Wind Beneath My Wings
by CoffeeFanatic87
Summary: AU. Peeta Mellark is chosen as the male tribute of the 74th Hunger Games. The female tribute? His sister, Primrose Mellark. That is, until one Katniss Everdeen steps in and changes everything.
1. Chapter 1

Hello all! So, after reading many, many fabulous Hunger Games fanfiction, I've finally decided to try my own hand at writing a story! I'm sure this version has been done many times before, but I thought I would put my own twist on a story that we all know and love! This is my first fanfic, so I would love to know what you all think! I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar errors - if you catch any mistakes, let me know and I'll fix it right away!

Disclaimer: Hunger Games and all recognizable characters belong to the brilliant Suzanne Collins. I'm just playing in her playground for awhile :)

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_Did you ever know that you're my hero,  
and everything I would like to be?  
I can fly higher than an eagle,  
'cause you are the wind beneath my wings_

- Wind Beneath My Wings

**Chapter One: In Which Katniss Everdeen Makes a Decision that Changes Her Life Completely.**

The morning dawned cool and misty when Peeta Mellark woke up that morning. There were angry, gray storm clouds in the sky and outside his window; he could hear a strong gust of wind blowing wildly around the trees in his backyard. All and all, the weather seemed to match perfectly with what was to happen later that day. Not really willing to leave his warm bed, but knowing he'd have to; the sixteen year old teenager slowly pulled back his covers and dragged himself out of bed, careful to not disturb his still sleeping sister. The reaping wouldn't be until two o'clock that afternoon but there was still plenty of work to be done and it would be a waste of a perfectly good hunting day if he didn't leave now.

Getting dressed and quietly pulling the front door closed behind him, Peeta made his way to the edge of District Twelve. With their house almost at the edge of the Seam, he arrived at the meadow within minutes and silently slipped through the high chain-link fence and into the woods. He could see his breath forming small white clouds as he walked and although the wind had calmed down significantly, the morning air was still a bit chilly. He pulled his father's hunting jacket around him tighter. Walking along the worn down path, he made his way further into the woods, pausing to stop at a hallow log where he stashed his bow and arrows and slinging them over his shoulder, before continuing on his way. The bow and arrows had also belonged to his father, weapons that Peeta took on as his when his father passed away in a mine explosion five years earlier. Trespassing through the woods was illegal, but Peeta did what he had to do in order to help his family survive. There were few other choices.

Up ahead, he spotted his best friend waiting for him and he could feel himself relaxing a bit. Gale Hawthorne smiled as he approached and held up his morning kill. "Look what I shot."

Peeta whistled as he admired the large dead fox that Gale held. "Let's see if we can find anymore game." That morning hunt turned out to be a good one. By the time they were done hunting, Peeta had managed to shoot down five squirrels and a raccoon. Between him and Gale, they had a dozen fish, a bag of greens and had collected about a gallon of strawberries. Heading back home, they decided to stop by the Hob where they traded half a dozen fish, their greens and the raccoon to Greasy Sae in exchange for things that they needed. It was a good arrangement for both parties involved.

As they made their way towards the mayor's house, Peeta began noticing Gale's face becoming more and more sullen as they approached the town square, a frown on his face. There were Peacekeepers milling around, setting up the stage and getting things ready for the reaping that afternoon. The tension across Gale's shoulders was noticeable and Peeta elbowed his friend in the ribs, hoping to get Gale to relax a bit. Gale's opinion of the games and of the Capitol was well known to the blonde but the last thing Peeta needed was Gale's temper going off and exploding. It was treason to speak out against the Capitol.

The brunette let out a long drawn out breath. "I just hate this," he muttered quietly.

"I know," the blonde muttered back. And indeed, Peeta did know. He hated it just as much but he held his opinion back because he didn't want to cause trouble for his family. They were already breaking law by going into the woods to hunt regularly. And without Peeta, who was going to feed Prim and his mother?

They walked up to the back door of the mayor's house to sell half the strawberries they had collected, knowing that the mayor had a weakness for them and could afford their price. The mayor's daughter, Madge who was in Peeta's year at school, answered the door. Her blonde hair was done up with a pink ribbon and there was a gold, circular pin that adorned her dress.

"Pretty dress," Gale remarked with a hint with disdain in his voice.

Peeta elbowed his friend once again. Madge Undersee was one of the few merchant girls in their district that was actually pretty nice. Being the mayor's daughter would lead one to assume that she was snobby but she was friendly to everyone, seam kids included and she never treated anyone different. She and Peeta weren't friends by any means, but he had nothing against her like Gale seemed to have a grudge against all kids that weren't from the seam. "Hi Madge," Peeta greeted, shooting Gale a dark look. "Want some strawberries?" He held out the bucket he was currently holding.

Madge glanced at Gale and nodded, choosing to ignore his comment and focused her attention on Peeta. "Sure Peeta, hold on," she disappeared for a moment and returned a minute later. She pressed a handful of coins into his hand. "Good luck today."

"You too," the blonde replied and together he and Gale turned and walked back down the steps.

Walking towards the bakery, Peeta began to feel the apprehension that he always felt when he came here. The Everdeens were one of the merchant families in district twelve that were definitely better off than most and while the baker, their two sons and daughter were alright, it was the baker's wife he tried to stay away from. Candace Everdeen turned up her nose at all seam families and she especially hated Peeta because he had what she called a "mixed heritage."

It was no secret to all of district twelve, the love story between Peggy Rhimstone and Patrick Mellark. It had been somewhat of a scandalous affair at the time. Peggy had been born in town and came from a well off family. With her blonde hair and blue eyes, she had her pick of men vying for her attention. And then she met Patrick (who was from the seam) and the rest as they say, was history. The two fell deeply in love and Peggy left behind the life she grew up in and married Patrick.

Peeta's parents were as happy as any couple in love could be. They had a happy marriage and for the first eleven years of his life, Peeta was surrounded with laughter and smiles all around him. He and Prim looked like their mother, with blonde hair and blue eyes, but people from town looked down upon them anyways. The Mellarks never had a lot of money but it was alright because they had each other and there was so much love, that the whispers and gossip of "bad blood" and "his merchant mother married someone from the seam, can you believe it?" never bothered him as he grew up. And then one day, it all changed.

He could still remember the Peacekeepers in his living room delivering the news that his father had died in the mine explosion and the devastated wail that came from his mother. He had just turned eleven and it had been hard to digest the fact that he would never see his father again. Something in his mother had died that day and although she was still physically there, she was no longer the mother he remembered. She had shut down and fallen into depression, forcing Peeta to grow up quickly and take care of Prim who had only been seven at the time.

"Is the witch around?"

Gale's question brought Peeta out of his thoughts and back to the present. The blonde took a quick peek through the window. "No, but let's go around the back anyways."

As they made their way around the building, the backdoor opened and something yellow darted past them. Feeling his instincts kick in, Peeta reached out and grabbed the cat by the neck and held it out in front of him. The cat meowed angrily at having its escape thwarted, its paws swinging in the air.

"Buttercup! Come back here! Oh - !"

Katniss Everdeen came into view, her features etched out in surprise. The baker's youngest child and only daughter was already dressed for the reaping that afternoon in a pale blue sundress and her long chestnut colored hair pulled into a single braid. There was a white apron pulled on over her dress and her right cheek was covered with a smidgen of flour. Upon seeing the two of them, she stopped short and blushed.

Peeta stepped forward and handed her the cat that was currently squirming to get free. She held out her arms. "Thanks," she whispered as he placed the cat in her arms.

He nodded dismissively. It wasn't that big of a deal. "Is your dad around? We were wondering if he wanted to do some trading today."

"Um," if possible, Katniss blushed even redder. "No, he went to go see Mayor Undersee but I can help you. Come with me."

Peeta and Gale followed her through the backdoor of the bakery, watched as she dropped off her cat in her living room, and continued to follow her into the kitchen where dozens of loaves of bread were sitting on cooling racks. He inhaled the smell of fresh bread and felt his stomach rumble. He loved the smell of fresh bread.

"Um," Katniss turned to face them. "H-how many squirrels did you bring today?"

Gale held out the bag that had been hanging off his shoulder. "There are three in here."

Katniss reached for the bag and nodded. "Okay." She placed the squirrels next to the sink and then busied herself as she grabbed a couple of paper bags and reached for a few loaves of bread that were to her left. When she turned back around to face them again, there were two bags with three loaves of bread in each.

Peeta frowned. The baker usually traded one loaf of bread per squirrel – Katniss had given them too much. He took a step forward. "Hang on, your dad usually gives us one per squirrel."

Katniss' eyes widened. "O-oh," she stammered. Then she shook her head, her nervousness was obvious in her demeanor. "It's alright, you can have them."

Peeta felt Gale's temper before he saw it. His friend stepped forward and pinned Katniss with a glare. "We always get one loaf of bread per squirrel, that was the deal," Gale snarled. "We don't need your charity!"

The baker's daughter involuntarily took a step back as Gale's sudden anger was unleashed upon her. Peeta inwardly sighed. Gale always acted like this every year on reaping day. Before the blonde could intervene though, Katniss stepped forward again and held out the bread to them once more.

"It's not charity, okay?" Her gray eyes flashed with annoyance as she glared back at Gale. "I don't know how much bread my dad normally gives you but I've eaten your squirrels before and they're delicious! I think they're worth more than just one loaf of bread!"

Peeta raised his eyebrow in surprise. He had never heard Katniss speak to anyone like that before – in fact, he hadn't ever really heard her speak period. But then again, Peeta never paid attention to his surroundings unless it had something to do with Prim and hunting. Katniss was also in Peeta's year at school and she was known for being notoriously shy. She often kept to herself, partnering up with Madge Undersee for school activities. The look in Katniss' eyes though, reminded him briefly of a moment five years earlier…

Letting out a breath and shaking his head before he could go down memory lane, he stepped forward and accepted the bags of bread, shooting Gale a dark look as he did so. Although incredibly shy, Katniss was also kind and he knew she never intended to offend them. Gale just needed to let go of his pride a little bit. "Thanks Katniss. We'll bring you an extra squirrel next time for all this bread, alright?"

For a moment it looked like Katniss was about to protest but then thought better of it as she bit her lip and looked down. "Okay," she whispered, reverting back to her shy nature one more. For some reason, she could never look at Peeta in the eye.

They turned to leave and as they made their way back towards the seam, Peeta nudged Gale with his shoulder. "You didn't have to talk to her that way, you know. She's never been around when we traded with her father, maybe she really didn't know how much bread we normally get."

Gale snorted. "Yeah, right. She has been around, you've just never noticed her."

He shrugged in response. "Whatever. We better get going." Once they reached the path that separated them towards their homes, the two boys divided their trades and purchases – splitting the fish, bread and money evenly between them. "See you in the square."

Gale rolled his eyes as he walked off. "Make sure to wear something pretty."

XXX

The air was warmer when Peeta arrived home a few hours later. As soon as he walked through the front door, he heard whimpers coming from his room and he quickened his pace. "Prim!" Peeta knelt by the side of her bed and gently shook his sister's shoulder. The little girl's eyes opened and upon seeing her older brother, tears filled her blue eyes and she launched herself into his arms. "It's okay Prim," he wrapped her tight in a hug. "It was only a bad dream." Peeta dreaded this day when it came around. The Hunger Games were a cruel annual event in which one boy and one girl aged twelve to eighteen from each district were chosen to compete in a televised battle to the death until only one person was left. This would be Prim's first year being eligible for the reaping and in the weeks leading up to the event, his little sister had begun to have nightmares almost on a nightly basis.

Prim began sobbing uncontrollably. "I dreamt that it would be me!"

His arms tightened. "Shh," he soothed. "Your name has only been entered once. You're about as safe you can be. The odds are in your favor Prim, it won't be you."

"Then what if it's you? I don't want you to be reaped, Peeta!"

"Oh Prim," he sighed. "It's been four years and my name hasn't been called yet. Maybe I'll be lucky again this year." He continued to soothe Prim until she calmed down. "Come on, little flower," he began pulling away. "We need to start getting ready."

Their mother chose that moment to come into their room. Peggy Mellark was already dressed for the reaping and looking exhausted, sadness still etched on her face. Peeta ignored the pang that he felt at seeing his mother like this. She had come a long way from when his father had first passed away but she would never again be the happy, carefree mother he remembered. "I've laid out an outfit for you."

He looked over his shoulder and saw his father's old dress shirt and pants and swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. "Thanks," he answered.

At one o'clock, they headed for the square. Attendance was mandatory and it was frowned upon to arrive late. Despite the bright cheerful banners that were hanging on the buildings surrounding the stage in the middle of the square, the air was thick and filled with heavy tension as people filed in silently and signed in. Prim's hand was held tight in his own and he could feel his heart pounding rapidly. For the last five years, Peeta had done all he could to protect his sister every way he knew how. But there was no way for him to protect her from the reaping; all he could do was pray that Prim's name would never be called.

Glancing around, he spotted Gale's younger brother standing with a group of other twelve year olds. He bent down towards Prim. "Look, there's Rory. Why don't you go stand with him? I'll come find you after the reaping, okay?"

Prim's watery eyes looked up at his and she nodded. She gave him a hug and he watched as she went to go stand next to Rory. Then he turned and made his way towards where the other sixteen year olds stood. His blue eyes swept the area once more, this time catching Gale's gaze and he nodded to his best friend. Peeta then looked forward towards the stage that was set up before the Justice Building. There were three chairs, a podium and two large glass bowls that held the slips of paper with all the names of the children that were eligible for the reaping. Two of the three chairs were filled by Madge's father, the mayor of District Twelve and Effie Trinket, District Twelve's escort, fresh from the Capitol with her scary white grin, pinkish hair and her magenta two-piece suit. There was a commotion and Peeta watched as Haymitch Abernathy, District Twelve's only victor from the Hunger Games, stumbled up onto the stage and threw himself onto the last empty chair. It looked like he was already drunk, which was a common occurrence.

The clock struck two and the Mayor steps up to the podium to begin his speech and then introduced Effie Trinket. Bright and bubbly as ever, Effie trots to the podium and gives her signature, "Happy 74th Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever _in your favor!" before going on to say what an honor it was to be there in District Twelve. Peeta inwardly rolled his eyes. Who was she kidding?

Finally it was time for the drawing. Effie reaches into the glass bowl with all the boys' names. "Boys first this year!" She digs her hand deep into the bowl and pulls out a piece of paper. The crowd draws in a collective breath and it is so silent that Peeta swears he could hear a pin drop. And then his world stops as Effie calls out the name written on the little piece of paper.

"Peeta Mellark!"

XXX

Katniss Everdeen shut door behind them as Gale Hawthorne and Peeta Mellark left the bakery. She let out a sigh as she leaned against the door, closing her eyes in defeat. No matter what she did, it seemed as though she could never bring herself to say more than two words to the boy she was in love with – if she said anything at all. And other times she did stupid things – like offend his best friend by offering them extra bread. She sighed again, she felt like such an idiot.

"And how was Prince Charming's visit today?"

Katniss looked up as her father came into the room. Bruce Everdeen gave his daughter a knowing grin as he approached and Katniss blushed heavily. Sometimes it didn't pay to have her father know about her secret. When she had seen Peeta and Gale approaching the bakery, she had begged her father to all but disappear and let her handle the trading. Her initial plan had been to strike up a conversation with the blonde boy but as soon as she had opened the door, Buttercup had raced outside faster then she could catch him.

That stupid cat had ruined her planned conversation starter!

Katniss sighed once more. Oh, who was she kidding? As soon as she saw Peeta, she had chickened out and went right back to being the coward that she was. "I got scared again. I just never know what to say to him!"

"Oh, honey. He's just a boy," Bruce wrapped his daughter into a hug. "I admit, he's a little rough around the edges but you shouldn't be so afraid to talk to him. He's just one fish in a sea full of fishes."

"But dad," she whined. "He's the fish that I want."

Bruce Everdeen only shook his head and hugged his daughter even tighter in his arms. "You take after me Catnip – you're exactly like me in every way. When you love someone, you love them with all of your heart. You're younger than I'd like you to be when you found love, but I guess the heart wants what it wants and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

One of the favorite things that Katniss loved most about her father was the way he understood her. He didn't find it silly that she had loved the same boy since she had been five years old. Instead, he supported her and listened to her problems and gave her encouragement whenever she needed it. "I wish I could be brave and tell him how I feel but I'm scared he'll just laugh at me."

"You'll have plenty of chances to talk to Peeta, I promise. Have courage. You'll be brave when you have to be and then you'll be able to do whatever you set your mind to, accomplish whatever goal you want," Bruce pulled back from his daughter and looked at her. "Catnip, any boy would be lucky to have you and don't you ever forget it. You're the best girl in the entire world."

"Dad, you're only saying that because I'm your daughter," the smile was beginning to appear back onto Katniss' face though. Her father was right. After all, there was always next time Peeta came to trade at the bakery, right? She could talk to him then.

Bruce winked at Katniss. "But you're my favorite daughter."

She let out a laugh. "Dad, I'm your only daughter!"

Father and daughter continued to joke around for a few more minutes before Bruce finally ushered Katniss to get cleaned up. It was getting close to the reaping time and they would have to leave soon. Katniss bounded up the stairs and quickly washed up, making sure all the flour was gone from her arms and her face. She grimaced as she spotted the small patch of dried flour on her cheek – had Peeta really seen her like that? She groaned out loud. At times like this, she wished she had a sister instead of two older brothers. As much as Katniss tried, she just didn't know how to be girly. She was just plain and simple Katniss. And she thought this fact might be one of her disadvantages when it came to getting Peeta's attention. She just didn't know what to do or how to act. Being a teenage girl was pretty tough sometimes.

The square was crowded with people by the time the Everdeens arrived. Her oldest brother Nathan was twenty-one and was no longer eligible for the reaping. Her other brother Tristan, was eighteen and this was his last reaping year. Katniss hoped for Tristan's sake that he wouldn't be reaped – he was almost free. After saying goodbye to her family, Katniss went to sign in and then joined the group of sixteen year olds, standing next Madge Undersee. The two girls exchanged brief nods but no words as the air around them was so thick with tension that no one dared to break the silence.

Katniss stood quietly and looked around, her eyes immediately trained on the blonde boy standing a few feet away from her. She watched as he gave his sister a hug and then sent her off towards the other twelve year old children. Katniss' heart broke for Peeta's sister and she caught a glimpse of the scared face on the little girl. It made Katniss want to give that little girl a hug.

Her eyes then went to Peeta as it always automatically did. It seemed she could never stop looking at the blonde hunter. She continued to observe him, dimly aware of the fact that Mayor Undersee had begun the reaping ceremony. The speech was the same every year and they also studied the history of the hunger games in school. Katniss was sure everyone knew it by heart by now. She was pulled out of her day dreaming though when Effie Trinket approached the podium. This was the moment that Katniss always dreaded the most every year. Her heart began to pound rapidly as she watched Effie's hand reach into the bowl with all the boys' names. _Please not Peeta. Or Tristan. Not Peeta, not Peeta, not Peeta. Not Tristan. Not Peeta. Please not Peeta. _

"Peeta Mellark!"

And then Katniss Everdeen's heart shattered into a million pieces.

Beside her, Madge let out a horrified gasp and Katniss could see her friend glance at her out of the corner of her eye. Katniss was too stunned to even offer a response, couldn't focus on anything other than the fact that the boy she loved was currently making his way towards the stage. Medium height, stocky build and ashy blonde hair that did not hide the shock that was currently on his face, Peeta was doing his best to remain emotionless. He climbed steadily onto the stage and took his place beside Effie.

"Isn't this exciting?" Effie's voice cheerfully rang out across the still silent square. "And such a handsome tribute this year! Are there any volunteers?"

A wail rang out and Katniss turned in time to see Primrose break into a heart wrenching sob and she collapsed to the ground. She watched, feeling helpless, as Gale suddenly appeared and helped pick Prim up. Save for Prim's cries, the square remained silent. District Twelve hadn't had a volunteer in decades, if ever. Katniss felt her eyes welling up with tears. It wasn't fair!

After a moment, Effie nodded. "Alright! And now for the girls!" Her arm reached into the left glass bowl that held all the girls' names and pulled out a slip of paper. Her eyes widened. "Well, isn't this just marvelous! Two chances for your family to try and bring some honor to District Twelve! Primrose Mellark, come on up here!"

In that moment, Katniss hated the hunger games more than she ever had before. She hated what the games stood for, hated that the Capitol forced these games on innocent children, and hated everything it represented. Peeta's stony expression had cracked and he stared at Effie in horror. "WHAT?" His voice thundered across the square.

The crowd began to murmur unhappily as they always do when a twelve year old gets chosen. Katniss could see that Prim had stopped crying momentarily, her shock evident. And then slowly, the twelve year old girl pulled away from Gale and began making her way towards the stage. Seeing this, Peeta became hysterical. "NO! NOT HER! PLEASE, NOT HER! PLEASE, SHE ONLY HAD ONE SLIP! PLEASE, NOT PRIM!" Two peacekeepers ran onto the stage and held onto him, preventing him from rushing towards his sister.

"I'm sorry young man, but rules are rules," Effie turns to face the crowd once more. "Are there any volunteers?"

Katniss stared at Peeta, the tears finally spilling over and trailing down her face. The blonde was still struggling against the peacekeepers, devastation on his face and looking like his worst nightmare had just come to life. She glanced at Prim, the little girl bravely making her way up to the stage. She looked at Peeta once again. Tears were making their way down his face and the sight startled Katniss. Peeta was so strong, she just couldn't fathom it.

_Have courage. _

Her father's earlier words came back to her.

Katniss took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her face and took a step forward.

"I volunteer!"

Every head in the area turned to look at her. Peeta stopped struggling. She could hear Madge's horrified cry.

Katniss held her head up high. "I volunteer as tribute!"

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Please Review! Go easy on me, okay? :)


	2. Chapter 2

Hi Everybody! First off, can I just say that I'm completely blown away by all the response I've gotten for this story? I would've been happy with just _one_ review but instead, I got twelve! Twelve! Thank you all so much! The reviews definitely motivated me to get this chapter written and hopefully this was a quick enough update for all of you! I also wanted to thank all of you who saved my fic as a story alert/favorite story - there were over 30 of you who did so! This, combined with the reviews made me completely giddy and I spent most of my weekend writing. Thanks so much!

Disclaimer: Hunger Games and all recognizable characters belong to the brilliant Suzanne Collins. I'm just playing in her playground for awhile :)

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**Chapter Two: In Which Our Tributes Say Goodbye.**

"KATNISS EVERDEEN, HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND?"

Katniss flinched as her mother burst through the Justice Building doors and into the room that she was currently being held in. It was by far the richest room she had ever been in with thick, deep carpets and a velvet couch and chairs. She ran her fingers repeatedly on the velvet fabric of the couch, taking comfort in the feeling that the material gave her. To put it simply, Candace Everdeen was furious – something that the sixteen year old brunette had been expecting ever since she had made her decision to take Prim's place in the reaping. Her father and brothers trailed in after and the doors shut behind them.

"HOW COULD YOU EMBARRASS THE FAMILY LIKE THIS?"

The harsh tones of her mother's voice shook Katniss from her numbed state and back to reality. The full impact of her choice was slowly starting to sink in and Katniss could feel her panic starting to set in. Her emotions were beginning to bubble at the surface but no matter how much she wanted to break down and cry, she absolutely refused to do it in front of her mother.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

Katniss looked up at her mother and held her chin high. She would never understand Candace's way of thinking. Never. "I was thinking that Primrose Mellark was too young to die. She's just a little girl!"

Although she had been expecting it, the sting of her mother's slap across her cheek still made her gasp. "I AM ASHAMED TO CALL YOU MY DAUGHTER! GIVING UP YOUR LIFE FOR A SEAM BRAT? I RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THAT!"

"CANDACE, THAT'S ENOUGH," Bruce stepped forward, his eyes flashing dangerously as he moved to stand in front of his youngest child. "You will say goodbye to your daughter and then you will wait for us outside." He glared. "_Now._"

Candace Everdeen huffed and looked at her daughter with disdain. "You were always a worthless daughter. Maybe now District Twelve will finally have a winner this year. He's a survivor, that one."

There was no love lost between Katniss and Candace but it still felt like a slap in the face when her mother said those words. "Goodbye mother," she said stiffly.

Silence ensued as her mother left. As soon as the door shut behind her, Katniss felt tears welling up her eyes and then spilling over down her cheeks. Bruce immediately stepped up to her and gathered her into his arms. "Don't listen to your mother, Catnip," he paused. "I'm sure you'll do your best."

Katniss clutched her father's shirt and sobbed, her tears quickly dampening the fabric. "I'm sorry daddy," she sniffed. "I had to do it. I couldn't _not_ do it."

The fact was she knew her father would understand why she chose to go to the games more than anyone else. Katniss Everdeen was a hopeless romantic. She was idealistic, a sentimental dreamer and imaginative. She believed in fairy tales and love and often daydreamed of a sweet romance in which she would be swept off her feet and carried off into the sunset. And ever since Peeta Mellark had rescued her when she was five years old, she had been a goner. With his blonde hair and blue eyes, she knew he was the Prince Charming in fairy tales that she often begged her father to tell stories of at bedtime. And the rest was history, she fell and she fell hard and she never once regretted it.

Bruce pulled back and brushed her bangs away from her eyes. "You really love him, don't you Catnip? Are you ready to sacrifice yourself?"

She let out a shaky laugh, her tears slowly drying. "It's too late to change my mind now, isn't it? Besides, this is literally going to be my last chance to talk to him. If I can somehow help bring him home to his family and spend my last few days on earth protecting him, then everything would have been worth it."

Her father sighed heavily. "I should've never encouraged you. This is my entire fault. I wish you had never met that boy. I can't believe I'm going to lose my little girl!"

"Daddy, you always told me to follow my heart and that we can't help who we fall in love with. And this is what I want. This is _my _choice. The heart wants what it wants, remember?" Katniss fixed her father with a resolved look. "He's my fish," she said simply.

With those words, her father began to cry. He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead tenderly. "You'll do your best, won't you Catnip? You'll do your best until the very end?"

"I will."

"I love you, honey. You're the best girl in the entire world."

"I love you too, Daddy. Don't let Peeta's family starve while I'm gone, okay? And his friend Gale, help him as well, okay?"

"I promise."

The tears started again as Katniss hugged and said goodbye to her brothers. Although she loved her family dearly and knew they loved her just as much in return, she knew that they would be able to move on with their lives eventually. No one in her family needed nor depended on her the same way Peeta's family needed him. She was going to do everything in her power to get Peeta Mellark home.

The next person to visit Katniss was Madge. As soon as the mayor's daughter stepped into the room, she launched herself at Katniss and pulled her tight into a hug, the look on her face was sad and sympathetic. She was rarely affectionate with anyone but this would probably be the last time she ever saw her friend. Her best friend. Other than her father, the mayor's daughter was the only other person that really knew how deep her feelings for Peeta ran. Madge pulled back and reached up to the collar of her dress and removed the pin that had been resting against her collarbone. "They let you wear one thing from your district in the arena. Will you wear this?" She held out the pin.

Upon closer inspection, Katniss saw the small bird in flight. Wearing a token from District Twelve had been the last thing on her mind. "Your pin?"

"Here, I'll put it on your dress, alright?" Not waiting for an answer, Madge leaned forward and pinned the bird to Katniss' dress. "Promise me you'll wear it in the arena?"

The brunette nodded. "I promise."

Madge's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, good luck Katniss! Please be careful."

"Don't worry, I have a few tricks up my sleeve, you know," Katniss managed a small smile, though it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm going to make sure he comes home. Will you promise me something?"

"What is it? Anything!"

"W-when he comes back after… after the games, will you tell him how much I really love him?" The tears welled up in her eyes again but didn't fall. She stared at Madge. "In case I never get the courage to tell him, will you tell him for me?"

Her friend nodded. "I will, I promise."

"Thank you for being my friend, Madge. I love you, you're the best friend I've ever had."

"I'm going to miss you so much Katniss!" The two girls hugged once more for the last time.

After Madge left the room, Katniss hadn't expected anyone else to come and visit her. She never had very many friends and few acquaintances; she had been quite content to have Madge as her only friend. So, it was a surprise when Prim Mellark and Gale Hawthorne stopped by to see her. Prim's face was stained with dried tears and the twelve year old girl ran up to her and threw her arms around her shoulders. Caught off guard, all Katniss could do was squeeze her back. "Thank you for volunteering, for taking my place. I would've died in those games if it weren't for you."

She patted Prim on the back and smiled at her gently. "Well, I wouldn't want Peeta to see you die. He loves you very much, it would devastate him to see you get hurt."

"Why'd you do it?" Gale asked. He was frowning at her, trying to figure her out.

The baker's daughter shrugged and bit her lip. She looked down at Primrose. The little girl's blue eyes shone with both gratitude and sadness but there was also a hint of curiosity there as well. Why not tell them her secret? Katniss wasn't going to live much longer anyway. "I love him," she said simply, watching as Gale's eyes widened a bit. He obviously hadn't been expecting that answer. "He saved me from some bullies when we were five years old and I developed a crush on him. That crush grew into love as we grew older and there's never been anyone in my heart since." She bent down so that she was at eye level with Prim. "I promise I'll do everything I can to get him home."

Prim began crying again. "Thank you… thank you so much."

A thought struck Katniss. "Can you do something for me?"

Prim nodded. "What is it? I'll do my best."

"I have a cat at home, his name is Buttercup. He needs a new owner now and no one in my family likes him very much, will you take care of him for me? My father will help give you all the food he needs. Buttercup needs someone with a lot of love."

"I will, I'll take good care of him!"

Katniss smiled at Prim's sincerity. "I know you will, thank you Primrose."

A peacekeeper came at that moment signalling that the time for all visitors was over and both Prim and Gale stood up and headed for the door. Right before he slipped through the opening, Gale turned around and fixed Katniss with a look. "I guess you're alright after all, Everdeen." He paused and gave her a small smile. "For a merchant anyway."

Katniss chuckled. Coming from Gale, that was probably the best compliment she would ever get from him. "Thanks Hawthorne, take care of yourself."

The silence became deafening as she was alone in the room once more. This was it. Someone would be coming to collect her and soon they would be on their way to the Capitol. Katniss took a deep breath and steeled her shoulders. _There's no turning back now, Everdeen. You can do this. You're going to accomplish your goal no matter what it takes. No matter what. _

Her gray eyes took on a determined glint.

All of Panem didn't know what was going to hit them.

XXX

The moment the anthem ended, Peeta was taken into custody and once he was left alone, he grabbed the nearest cushion off the couch and screamed into it, pressing his face hard against the fabric. How in the world could this have happened? The odds had been against Peeta from the very start with his twenty entries in the reaping, but Prim had only one slip. _One! _One out of thousands of slips of paper and it had been her name that Effie Trinket had called out.

Fear was a terrifying emotion and Peeta could feel it pressing into him from all sides as he had watched Prim slowly make her way towards the stage. He had nearly lost his mind at the thought of his little sister in the Games and he knew he would do whatever it took to make sure Prim stayed alive. But then Katniss Everdeen had stepped in and volunteered and all Peeta could do was stare at her in shock.

Why had she volunteered? Where was her sense of self-preservation? They weren't friends, nor had they ever had a proper conversation! She and Prim had never interacted that he knew of. _Why did she volunteer? _

He would never stop owing this girl, it seemed.

Peeta could still remember the one real interaction they'd had years ago. It had been during the worst time….

_It was storming and sheets of icy rain were coming down hard, pelting his skin as he made his way through town trying to trade some old baby clothes of Prim's in the public market. The rain had soaked through his father's hunting jacket, leaving him chilled to the bone. His father had passed away three months earlier and the money that they had received from the district as compensation for his death had finally run out. His mother had all but physically disappeared – unable to do anything but sit propped up in a chair or huddled under a pile of blankets on her bed. His mother was locked in a world of sadness and at the time, an eleven year old Peeta had no other choice but to take things into his own hands. They were all slowly starving to death and he was desperate. He couldn't head home empty handed, he just couldn't. _

_He found himself stumbling along a muddy lane behind the shops that served the wealthiest townpeople. The merchants lived above their businesses so essentially he was in their backyard and he was desperate enough to search through their trash bins. He passed the bakery and the smell of fresh bread had been so overwhelming, Peeta nearly collapsed from the dizziness. The smell brought forth a gnawing pain of hunger that he hadn't hesitated to lift the lid of the trash can that belonged to the bakery. Sudden the door was pulled wide open and a furious sounding voice cut through the pelting rain._

"_GET AWAY FROM HERE OR I'M CALLING THE PEACEKEEPERS! I'M SICK OF YOU DISGUSTING SEAM BRATS ALWAYS PAWING THROUGH MY TRASH! GET AWAY!" _

_Peeta recoiled from the harsh words of the baker's wife and as he backed away, he noticed her. A girl with brown hair pulled back into two braids was peering out from behind her mother's back, a horrified look etched on her delicate features. He knew her, she was in his year at school, but he didn't know her name. The baker's wife went back into the bakery, grumbling as she did so and the door slammed shut, their shadows disappearing from his view. The realization that he had nothing left hit him and his knees buckled. He collapsed against an old apple tree, too numb, too tired to do anything other than sit against that tree and wait for his inevitable death. His eyes closed._

_Suddenly, there was a clatter coming from inside and he heard the baker's wife screaming again. The sound of a blow followed and then feet sloshing through mud, heading towards him. Peeta forced his eyes opened and watched as the baker's daughter made her way outside. In her arms were four loaves of burnt bread that must have fallen into the fire. _

"_FEED IT TO THE PIGS, YOU STUPID CREATURE! NO ONE DECENT WILL BUY BURNED BREAD NOW!" _

_The girl began to tear off the chucks from the burnt parts and toss them into the trough, and the front bakery bell rung and the mother disappeared to help a customer. The girl looked up as soon as her mother disappeared, and after checking to make sure the coast was clear, she quickly made her way over to him and knelt down in front of him. Up close, he could see the bright red handprint that adorned her cheek from where her mother had slapped her. All he could do was stare at her in shock as she pressed the loaves of bread into his arms. "Here," she spoke so quietly that if he hadn't seen her lips move, he wouldn't have known she said anything. "Hurry, go before she sees you!" She gave him a small smile before standing and running back into the bakery. _

_He stared at the bread in his arms for a brief second before adrenaline kicked in and he began to rush home. That night, they ate an entire loaf of bread, slice by slice. It had been filled with raisins and nuts, the best thing he had ever tasted. They all went to bed with their stomachs full. It hadn't occurred to him until the next day that the girl might have burned the bread on purpose. Might have dropped the bread into the flames, knowing that it meant being punished to do so. Giving him the bread was an enormous kindness that would have surely resulted in a beating if discovered. Peeta just couldn't understand the girl's actions. _

_The next morning he passed the girl in the hallway at school. Her cheek had swelled up and there was a new welt on the other side of her face as well as a black eye. She was standing with Madge Undersee as other children were whispering around her, wondering what had happened to her face. Peeta swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Without a doubt, he knew that the baker's wife had discovered what her daughter had done and had punished her for it. Their eyes met across the school yard for a brief second before her gray eyes looked away and he glanced down in embarrassment. And that's when he saw it… the first dandelion of the year. Seeing the yellow weed reminded him of all the time he spent in the woods with his father and he knew how they were going to survive. _

He let out a deep breath through his nose and let a sigh. He had never even thanked her. Katniss had saved him and his family from the depths of starvation and now she had gone and saved Prim, the person he loved most in the world. How in the world was he going to kill her when he owed her so much? His best hope was that one of the other tributes would kill her before he could. He felt a pang of guilt at the thought. A girl as pure as Katniss shouldn't have to die at all.

The doors opened and Prim came running through, followed by his mother. He knelt down and gathered his sister into his arms and hugged her hard, his face buried in her hair. "Peeta," she cried. "You have to win. You'll try really, really hard won't you?"

"I promise I'll try really, really hard. I swear it," he tells her. The blonde then looks up at his mother, who had been standing by. He released Prim and grabbed his mother by the arm. "Listen to me. Are you listening?"

Peggy Mellark nodded, alarmed by the sudden intensity in his voice. His blue eyes bore into hers and shone with steely resolve.

"You can't leave again, do you hear me?"

"I know. I won't. I couldn't help what –"

"Well, you have to help it this time," Peeta interrupted. "You can't zone out and leave Prim on her own. I won't be there this time to keep you both alive. It doesn't matter what happens – whatever you see on the screen. You have to promise me you'll fight through it!"

Peggy pulled her arm from her son's grip, anger apparent on her face. "I was ill. I could have treated myself if I'd had the medicine I have now."

Peeta didn't relent. "Then take the medicine and take care of Prim! And don't you dare let her take out any tesserae!"

"I'll be alright, Peeta," Prim assured her brother. She squeezed his hand. "But you have to take care too. You're so fast and brave, please try your best to come home!"

Once Peeta said his goodbyes to his family, Gale was the next to come visit him. For a moment the two stood not saying anything to one another. Then Gale breaks the silence. "You've got to get your hands on a bow and arrow. It's your best chance."

"They won't always have bows," Peeta said with a sigh.

"Then make one," Gale replied. "Even a weak bow is better than no bow at all."

"What if there's no wood?"

"There's almost always some wood, ever since that one year half of them died from the cold – not much entertainment in that."

Peeta sighed again. He looked at Gale. "Don't let them starve. Keep an eye on Prim for me, please."

"You know I'll take care of them until you get back. You can win this you know. You're better than all of them combined."

"There are twenty-four of us Gale and only one comes out. Some of them have even spent their entire lives training for this."

His best friend shook his head. "It doesn't matter, you're smarter than they are. You'll make it through."

At that moment a peacekeeper came into the room and Gale gave his friend one last look before departing. The room fell silent and for a brief moment, Peeta wondered if they were going to be departing for the Capitol soon. Then, the door opened and Bruce Everdeen came in. Peeta stared at the tall man, suddenly feeling a little intimidated. The baker was normally a kind and gentle man, and although Peeta had never really had a proper conversation with him, he felt gratitude towards the man for always being willing to trade with him.

And now, his only daughter was going into the games for reasons Peeta still didn't know.

Peeta studied the baker. The man's eyes were red from crying, had probably just come from saying goodbye to Katniss, knowing he wouldn't see his daughter again. Awkwardness descended and Peeta had no idea what to say. He watched as the baker sat on the edge of one of the plush chairs. Finally the baker spoke. "I just wanted to tell you that Katniss is the best girl in the world. Her heart's in the right place. I just wanted you to know that."

The blonde nodded. He could understand this. The love the baker had for his daughter was something Peeta could understand completely. All too soon, it was time for him to leave for the Capitol. It was a short ride from the Justice Building to the train station and the next thing he knew, he was being ushered past reporters with their insectlike cameras trained on him. He caught a glimpse of himself on the television screen that was on the wall just before the train doors closed and the reporters disappeared from view.

Effie Trinket was standing at the end of the doorway, motioning at him. He walked towards her slowly, resisting the urge to punch her in the face. "It was about time, you got here! Now where is Miss Everdeen? Oh! There she is."

Peeta turned and saw Katniss quickly approaching, accompanied by two peacekeepers. She looked up and gray eyes met blue for a brief second. Then he heard Effie gasp.

"Oh goodness, what happened to your face?"

Peeta's eyes glanced down at her right cheek. It was bright red. Katniss' gaze dropped as she reached the two of them. "Just a goodbye present from my mother," the baker's daughter muttered. "She didn't exactly approve of my volunteering." The last part was said so softly but Peeta's hearing had been trained to hear even the slightest sounds from the woods, so he caught every word she had muttered. His heart lurched. He had never hated the baker's wife more.

The tribute train was fancier than the room he had been in at the Justice Building and Peeta was momentarily stunned when Effie dropped him off in what would be his own room for the remainder of the train ride to the Capitol. Alone, Peeta began exploring. There were drawers filled with fine clothes – fancier than anything he had ever seen in his life. The bathroom alone was bigger than his and Prim's room at home and the shower was something else. Here, alone in his room, Peeta wished more than anything he could be somewhere else. Somewhere safe. The blonde grabbed the pillow that was on his bed and pressed it to his face and screamed.

XXX

The air was thick with heavy silence as two pairs of eyes stared at their mentor. Haymitch Abernathy regarded both tributes with curious eyes, his mouth set in a frown. In his right hand was a glass, filled with a golden brown liquid. He took a long sip, feeling the alcohol burn his throat, before looking at his tributes again. He studied the boy first. Peeta Mellark had a toughness about him, the way he held himself indicated that fact about him. His instincts screamed that the boy was a survivor and that he would fight to the very end.

Haymitch's attention turned to the girl. Katniss Everdeen was as delicate as she appeared, sitting in her chair, wringing her hands in her lap. Of his two tributes this year, she was the one most likely not to survive. However, when the girl glanced up at him, Haymitch was reminded of the reason she was there in the place. Katniss had enough courage to volunteer and take the place a little girl that had been too young and courage like that was rarely found. Looking into her gray eyes, he saw a fierce determination that indicated that there was more to her story.

"So you're supposed to give us advice," Peeta spoke up.

Haymitch laughed, though it wasn't genuine. "Here's some advice, stay alive!"

"That's very funny," Katniss said. Suddenly, she lashed out and knocked Haymitch's drink out of his hand, sending the golden brown liquid all over the floor of the train. "Only it's not so funny to us. You're supposed to help us!"

Peeta turned shocked eyes towards his fellow tribute. Katniss was normally very mild and pleasant, so to see her acting the way she was made his respect for her go up a notch. There was a hardness in her eyes that hadn't been there before. He glanced at Haymitch again. Their mentor was currently reaching for another bottle of alcohol and he could feel the anger rise in him at the fact that they weren't being taken seriously. He grabbed the knife that had been lying close by and drove it into the table between Haymitch's hand and the bottle.

Their mentor sat back and stared at his tributes with renewed interest. "Well, what's this? Did I actually get a pair of fighters this year?" He nodded to the middle of the room. "Stand over there, both of you." They obeyed and Haymitch stood, moving around them in a slow circle and examining them from head to toe. "Well, the both of you aren't entirely hopeless. You seem to be fit enough and once the stylists gets hold of you, you'll be attractive enough." He sat back down in his chair and reached for the bottle again. He looked at him. "I'll make a deal with you. You don't interfere with my drinking and I'll stay sober enough to help you – but you have to do exactly as I say."

Peeta and Katniss glanced at one another. "Fine," the blonde answered stiffly, while Katniss nodded her agreement.

Supper that evening was a quiet affair. After arriving at the Capitol, they were whisked away to the apartment complex that all the tributes would share. He and Katniss had been recognized and while he had shied away, wanting nothing to do with the Capitol, Katniss had lifted her face to the cameras and had begun smiling and waving as they left the train station. Peeta hadn't asked what she had been doing but he had a feeling that the baker's daughter had a plan forming – that just because she volunteered for the games didn't mean she had accepted her death. She was trying to win over the crowd, already trying hard to stay alive – and that meant she was fighting hard to kill him. Peeta supposed he couldn't blame her; after all, he was trying to survive the games himself, wasn't he? He had promised Prim he would try to win.

He and Katniss sat side by side as the main courses were placed on the dining table, and Peeta felt his stomach rumble at the sight of so much food. Effie Trinket sat across from them, humming to herself as she inspects her nails. He and Katniss still hadn't exchanged a word with one another, in fact, as soon as Peeta had stepped into the dining room, Katniss had all but avoided his gaze and looked down. As soon as dinner was served, she had begun eating, keeping her mouth full so she wouldn't have to utter a single word to him. This suited Peeta just fine.

After they had finished eating, Effie led them to another compartment where they sat and watched a recap of the other reapings across Panem. Haymitch was already seated on one of the couches, his eyes on the television showed all the events that had happened that day at the reapings. Peeta immediately began studying the footage intently, observing the other tributes. There was a sharp intake of breath and he looked over to see Katniss near tears as she watched, particularly when she saw the twelve year old tribute from District Eleven. Peeta felt a pang in his heart, then shook his head to shake off the feeling.

No, Katniss was his enemy now. She couldn't be trusted.

He turned his attention back towards the television and focused in on the little girl and felt another pang in his heart. The little girl had dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that, she reminded him of Prim. But unlike Prim, she had no one to take her place. Peeta felt anther surge of gratitude towards Katniss. All these conflicting feelings that he had towards the baker's daughter were beginning to give him a headache.

Once the recap was over, Effie stood up from her place on the sofa. "Time for bed you two! You both have a big, big day tomorrow!"

Without a word to any of his companions, Peeta stood up and left the compartment, disappearing behind the closing doors, Effie following him. Katniss stayed in her seat, watching as he left and waited for a moment to make sure they didn't come back. When she was sure, she turned to her mentor.

Haymitch raised an eyebrow. "Something on your mind, sweetheart?"

Katniss fixed him with a hard gaze. "I want to help Peeta win the games." The look in her eyes reminded Haymitch of her earlier fierce determination. "And you're going to help me do it."

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Please review! Even if it's just two words. I just want to know what you all think so I can improve on my writing! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi Everybody! Thanks so much for all your reviews for the last chapter! This chapter is a little longer than the others and its mostly due to a very awesome review left to me by erhea (thanks so much!). I got very inspired and this chapter was a little longer than I had planned *shrugs* oh well! Enjoy!  
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**Disclaimer: I really wished I owned Peeta Mellark (who doesn't?). Alas, all characters belong to Suzanne Collins.  
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**Chapter Three: In Which Our Favorite Tributes Make a Lasting Impression.**

_Do not complain. Do not complain. Do not complain. Ouch!_

Katniss tried hard not to flinch and continued repeating her mantra over and over in her head as her prep team pulled wax strips from her body one after another, getting rid of all the unwanted hair. She gritted her teeth as Venia pulled off a particularly painful strip and prayed that the torture would be over soon. _It'll be worth it, _she kept telling herself. _In the long run, it'll help Peeta in the games. _

She had been in the Remake Center for more than three hours already. Her prep team had the unfortunate task of getting her to look decent enough to meet her stylist, Cinna. Until she was deemed _presentable_, he apparently wanted nothing to do with her. And so, Venia, Flavius and Octavia had stripped her naked, waxed her body and scrubbed it down until it felt like she had no feeling left. Her skin was red, sore and tingling and she felt like a plucked turkey, ready for roasting – she had never felt so exposed in her entire life.

Katniss was far from stupid. She knew that while she wasn't exactly helpless, she also didn't have the many survive skills that her fellow tributes were bound to have. The upper districts had tributes that had trained their entire lives just for the _chance_ to even compete in the games, how could she compare with that? In order to help Peeta win, she was going to have to survive long enough to do so and in order to do that, she was going to need every advantage she could get. And if getting her entire body waxed was going to help her, then she would gladly keep all complaints to herself and take the pain that came with it a thousand times over.

Finally, the torture was over.

"You're actually really pretty now that we've cleaned you up a bit," Flavius told her, stepping back to admire his handiwork. Katniss bit her tongue to keep herself from making a retort. She was rarely temperamental, but she had her moments and this was definitely a moment. "You almost look like a human being now! I've never met anyone with so much hair on their body, it was positively hideous!"

She forced her lips into a smile and took a quick glance in the mirror to her right. "Thank you," she murmured, her voice sounding soft. "I would've never looked this pretty in District Twelve!" She allowed the sweetness to seep into her voice.

Her words won over her prep team completely. "Oh, you poor darling," Octavia reached forward and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't you worry dear, by the time Cinna is through with you, you'll be absolutely stunning!"

Katniss tried to appear bashful. "You really think so?"

"We promise!" Venia clasped her hands together. "Let's call Cinna!" Together, they all left the room with a flourish, leaving her by herself for a moment.

Relishing the moment of silence, Katniss let out a sigh, feeling the stress in her shoulders melt away as she stared at the white walls and floor. While she waited, she let her mind wander and like they always did, her thoughts drifted to Peeta. She wondered what was going on at his end, would he find his makeover as torturous as she had found hers? Was he worried about her? She sighed again. Most likely not. Her thoughts then drifted to her conversation with her mentor the night before and she smirked to herself.

She bet she had been one of the few tributes to have ever shocked Haymitch Abernathy speechless. She was quite proud of that.

_Without a word to any of his companions, Peeta stood up and left the compartment, disappearing behind the closing doors, Effie following him. Katniss stayed in her seat, watching as he left and waited for a moment to make sure they didn't come back. When she was sure, she turned to her mentor._

_Haymitch raised an eyebrow. "Something on your mind, sweetheart?"_

_Katniss fixed him with a hard gaze. "I want to help Peeta win the games." The look in her eyes reminded Haymitch of her earlier fierce determination. "And you're going to help me do it."_

_He raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?" _

_She held his gaze. "You heard me. I know you're not deaf." _

"_Well, aren't you a sassy one? Would've never guessed you'd be so feisty. It's always the quiet ones," Haymitch raised his glass to his lips and took a long drink, then leaned back into his chair. He looked at her with curiosity and renewed interest. "Now what's this about?" _

_And so Katniss told him the entire story, the entire reason why she volunteered for Prim in the games, her secret unrequited love for Peeta and her dying wish for Peeta to return home to his family. Haymitch was quiet for a moment. _

"_Sweetheart, are you sure you want to do this?"_

_She looked at her mentor. "Haymitch, between the two of us, do you really think I would be able to survive the games?" There was a moment of silence. "That's what I thought. I know I'm going to die. I've accepted that fact the moment I volunteered in his sister's place. And since I'm going to die, I want to die knowing that Peeta will be alive. I want him to win the games so that he'd never have to worry about securing his family's safety, that he'd never go hungry again. I want to die knowing he'll be safe and sound." _

"_Kid, you really are something else," Haymitch let out a humorless chuckle. "It won't be easy to convince Peeta, you know. That boy's got a stubborn head on his shoulders – he won't react well to this at all. Are you prepared for that? Prepared for how hard it will be?" _

_Katniss held her gaze. "I don't need easy, Haymitch. I just need it to be possible. I will do whatever it takes. Will you help me?" _

"_Alright sweetheart," Haymitch nodded, taking another long sip of his drink. "I'll help you." _

She and Haymitch had agreed that Peeta needed to be kept out of the loop. After Katniss had confided in her mentor the night before, they had spent a few hours planning out a strategy and when to pull off their newly hatched plan. Katniss still didn't know if she could completely trust Haymitch Abernathy but she knew she couldn't do this alone and was grateful for anything she could get.

At that moment, the door opened and a young man entered. His hair was closely cropped and he was wearing a simple black shirt and pants and as soon as she saw him, she was taken aback with the way he looked. With the exception of his metallic gold eyeliner, Cinna looked like an ordinary, normal man. Not a hint of the hideous Capitol fashions on him anywhere.

"Hello," she ventured cautiously. "You're new, aren't you? I don't think I've seen you before."

"Yes, this is my first year in the games," he nods.

"So they gave you District Twelve?" she asked. It was a well-known fact that newcomers generally ended up with the least desirable district.

Cinna took a step towards her, his eyes going over her still-naked form. Katniss could almost see the ideas he had for her, forming in his mind as he slowly walked around her in a circle. She resisted the urge to cover her chest with her arms. Finally, his gaze met hers and he smiled. Immediately, she felt reassured. Cinna's smile was a kind one. She had expected someone flamboyant, someone older trying desperately to look young, someone who viewed her as a piece of meat to be prepared for a platter. Cinna had met none of her expectations.

"I asked for District Twelve," he told her, without further explanation. "Why don't you put on your robe and we'll have a chat."

Pulling on her robe, Katniss followed her stylist through a door and into a sitting room that was lavishly decorated. Two red couches were faced off over a low table that had food already sitting on top of its surface. Her stomach started growling as soon as her eyes landed on the chicken, lamb stew and tall glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice. Her mouth watered.

Cinna gestured her to sit down and as she did so, he began speaking. "So Katniss, about your costume for the opening ceremonies… my partner Portia and I were thinking of dressing you and your fellow tribute in complementary outfits."

Katniss thought back to all the previous games she had watched on television. The District Twelve tributes of the past had always been dressed up in some kind of coal miner's getup, skimpy outfits and the like. She prepared herself for the worst. "Please tell me I won't be naked."

Cinna chuckled. "Not exactly. You see, Portia and I think that the coal miner thing is very overdone. No one will remember you in that and we both see it as our job to make the District Twelve tributes unforgettable. So, rather than focusing on the coal mining, we're going to focus on the coal."

_Please don't let me be naked and covered in black dust,_ she prayed.

"And what do we do with coal? We burn it," Cinna continued. He grinned at her from across the table. "Tell me Katniss, are you afraid of fire?"

XXX

A few hours later, Katniss found herself dressed in an elaborate black costume that was bound to be sensational or the deadliest outfit in the opening ceremonies. She stared at herself in the mirror almost unable to recognize the girl staring back at her. She was dressed in a simple black unitard that covered her from head to toe and shiny leather boots that laced up to her knees. Although, she looked relatively simple in her all-black outfit, it was the fluttering cape and matching headpiece that defined the outfit and as Cinna had assured, would make heads turned towards her. Her hair was in its usual style, a long braid down her back. She looked like Katniss Everdeen and yet, she felt completely different from the simple girl she had been in District Twelve.

There was some shuffling and suddenly Peeta appeared wearing a similar outfit like hers. Relief flooded through her at the sight of him and she felt her shoulders let out a tension that she hadn't known she'd been carrying. She took a moment to admire the way the color black stood out against his pale skin and blonde hair. He looked so very handsome, it made her heart race. He came and stood next to her with Portia, his own stylist, following.

They were whisked away, down to the bottom level of the Remake Center. Pairs of tributes were being ushered into their chariots, ready to be pulled by teams of four horses. She and Peeta were led to the last chariot that was coal black. Cinna and Portia helped them into their chariot and positioned them to their liking. They carefully arranged their capes and head pieces before moving off to the side to consult with one another. Katniss stole a glance at Peeta and mustered up her courage. They hadn't really had a chance to have a conversation with one another since arriving at the Capitol and she knew she would have to work on gaining his trust if she was going to be able to help him in the arena. There were times she really wished she hadn't been so shy. "So, what do you think?" she whispered. "About the fire?"

Peeta's stony expression didn't change. "I'll rip off your cape if you rip off mine," he replied through gritted teeth.

She tried not to let Peeta's surly attitude discourage her. After all, she had to start somewhere right? It wasn't as if she had expected Peeta to be all sunshine and rainbows while talking to her. "Deal," she nodded. "I know we promised Haymitch we'd do exactly what our stylists said, but I don't think he considered this angle."

"Where is Haymitch anyway? Isn't he supposed to protect us from this sort of thing?" her fellow tribute looked around.

"With all that alcohol in him, it's probably not a good idea to have him around an open flame," she answered.

Suddenly they were both laughing and Katniss felt a bubble of happiness well up in her. Their laughter was probably just a product of their nervousness for the Games and for being minutes away of being lit on fire but she didn't care. Peeta was here, with _her_, and they were sharing a laugh together. This was something she had never, even with all her daydreams, thought would happen. She hardly ever saw Peeta smile back home, so to see him laughing and to know that the cause of it had been something _she_ had said… well, she would cherish this moment.

The opening music began playing and their fellow tributes were being pulling out of the room, one chariot at a time. The tributes from District Eleven were just starting to roll out when Cinna and Portia appeared both carrying lighted torches. "Here we go then," Cinna says and before they could react, their capes were on fire. Katniss cringed, waiting for the heat but after a moment, realized there was only a tickling sensation. Portia then lit up their head pieces on fire and stepped off their chariot.

"Remember, heads held high and smile! They're going to love you!" Cinna told them. He jumped off the chariot but seemed to have one last idea as he turned back around and shouted something up at them. The music from the ceremonies was too loud though and drowned him out.

"What's he saying?" Peeta asked, frowning. He was unable to make out Cinna's words and gestures.

Katniss, on the other hand, could make out Cinna's actions perfectly. She started to blush as she looked over at Peeta. "I think he said for us to hold hands," she said hesitantly. She slowly held out her right hand. The fake flames that surrounded his face made him look incredibly striking and she resisted the urge to run and hide. She could feel her heart pounding fast beneath her chest. Not for the first time, he took her breath away.

The blonde blinked and an expression crossed over his eyes that she was unable to make out. Slowly, he raised his left hand and clasped their fingers together. Katniss felt her heart race even faster. Another daydream coming true! He was actually holding her hand! Peeta looked over at Cinna for confirmation. He nodded and gave a thumbs up and that was the last thing they saw before their chariot entered the city.

Immediately, Katniss could tell that she and Peeta had made an impression with the crowd. There was a collective gasp initially at their appearance that quickly changed to cheers and shouts of "District Twelve!" and every head in the audience were turned their way. She caught a glimpse of them on the large television screen and for a moment, she was frozen. With their hands clasped and the fire surrounding them, they looked absolutely breathtaking. She never knew she could be so dazzling. For the first time ever, she felt she was beautiful.

Remembering Cinna's words, she lifted her chin and began waving to the crowd with her free hand, blowing kisses through the air. If possible, the audience became even more exhilarated. She looked over at Peeta, his expression stoic and she squeezed his hand. He looked over at her and she gave him a look. _Come on Peeta, this is a good opportunity to try and win some sponsors! _Her look must have convey what she was thinking because a moment later, he plastered on his most winning smile and began waving to the crowd as well.

It was hard to supress her excitement. Cinna had given them a great advantage; everyone knew their names and no one would forget them. As they entered the City Circle, she could feel Peeta start to loosen his grip on her hand and she panicked slightly. She was enjoying the feel of his fingers too much to let go now. She held on tighter to his hand. "No, don't let go of me!" Her voice might have taken on a slight desperation to it. "Please, I might fall out of this thing."

Another strange look passed through his eyes but he regained his grip on hers. "Okay."

The twelve chariots filled the loop of the City Circle and the horses pulled them up right to President Snow's mansion and the music ends with a flourish as they came to a halt. The president, a small thin man, gives the official welcome from the balcony above them and then they're paraded around the City Circle once more before going back to the Remake Center.

As soon as the doors are shut behind them, they're engulfed by their prep teams. As the excitement surrounded them, Katniss glanced around the room and noticed the tributes from the other districts shooting dirty glances at them. She knew that she and Peeta had stolen the spotlight, grabbed the entire Capitol's attention for themselves – she tried not to let her fear overrule her and did her best to ignore them.

Realizing that she was still holding Peeta's hand, she blushed and slowly forced her fingers to let go of his, already missing the warmth that had been there. "Thanks for keeping a hold of me," she told him. Her blush deepened. "I was getting pretty shaky and I was scared I was going to fall out of that thing."

He shook his head. "It didn't show," he told her dismissively. "I'm sure no one noticed."

She smiled at him as Cinna and Portia approached to help them take off their flaming capes and headdresses. Peeta smiled back at her and it was such a genuine smile that it made her heart skipped a beat and once again, reaffirmed that her choice to take Prim's place in the games had been the right one. Even though they still had the games ahead of them and their deaths were looming over their heads, these small little moments with Peeta had made this the best day of her life.

XXX

Dinner that night was different from their first dinner in the Capitol as everyone was still on their high from their triumph at the opening ceremonies. Peeta was particularly relieved when he saw Portia, Cinna and Katniss standing out on the balcony when he entered the dining room. The stylists seemed to have a civilizing effect on Haymitch and Effie, both of whom seemed to despise one another since their arrival to the Capitol. While the adults made small talk, Peeta concentrated on his meal. Mushroom soup, bitter greens with tomatoes, rare roast beef that was sliced as thin as paper, noodles in a creamy white sauce and cheese that melted on your tongue served with sweet purple grapes – this meal in one sitting would've fed his entire family for a week at home. He felt a slight pang in his heart. Was Prim doing alright? He hoped she had enough to eat and that she was taking care of herself while he was away.

He blinked and tried to focus on the small talk that was going on around him. The conversation had turned from the opening ceremonies to a discussion on what their interview costumes were going to be. The television that was on the wall off to the side was replaying highlights of the tributes entrances and flashed to a shot of him and Katniss earlier that morning.

"Whose idea was the hand holding?" asked Haymitch.

"Cinna's," Portia answered.

"Just the perfect touch of rebellion," their mentor nodded. "Very nice. Almost perfect even."

Rebellion? His eyebrows furrowed and then he remembered the tributes from the other districts. None of the other couples had acknowledged one another, never touching and standing stiffly apart as if their fellow tribute did not exist and as if the games had already begun. The fact that he and Katniss had presented themselves as a united front, as friends, had distinguished themselves and made them different from the others. They stood out, just like their fiery costumes. He looked up from his dinner and caught the look that Haymitch had exchanged with Katniss and frowned. What was that about?

Before he could dwell on it though, Haymitch set down his fork and leaned back into his chair. "Tomorrow morning is the first training session," he said to him and Katniss. "Meet me for breakfast and I'll tell you exactly how I want you to play it. Now go get some sleep while the grown-ups talk."

He and Katniss walked together down the corridor to their rooms. He glanced over at the girl next to him as they walked. The baker's daughter had a quiet, contemplative look on her face, looking deep in thought and he resisted the urge to ask what she was thinking. He couldn't afford to let himself care about her well-being, couldn't let himself be distracted from his goal to get home.

The next morning, he arrived at the breakfast table to see Katniss and Haymitch already seated and eating. He was slightly startled to see Katniss dressed in the exact same outfit he was wearing but made no comment about it as he took a seat next to the baker's daughter. Judging from last night's reaction, the stylists seemed to know what they were doing. He didn't have a lot of room to criticize their choices. He took a roll from the basket and took a bite.

Haymitch finished his stew and leaned back into his chair with a sigh, pushing his plates away as he did. He took a flask from his pocket and took a long sip from it and leaned his elbows on the table. "So, let's get down to business. First off, decided now if you want to be coached together or separately."

"Why would you coach us separately?" he asked.

"Say if you had a secret skill you might not want the other to know about," Haymitch replied.

He exchanged a glance with Katniss and the brunette shrugged. "I don't have any secret skills," she muttered. "And I already know what yours is, right? I mean, I've eaten enough of your squirrels."

Peeta gave a start at her comment. He had never really given much thought to what the baker did with his game after he had traded it. He had always assumed the meat would've been used for their baked goods. He turns back to Haymitch. "You can coach us together." Katniss nodded in agreement.

"All right, so give me some idea of what you can do," Haymitch said.

"I can't really do anything," Katniss replied. "Unless you count baking bread."

"Sorry, I don't. Peeta, I already know you're handy with a knife. Anything else you can do?"

Peeta frowned. "I can hunt with a bow and arrow."

"And you're good?" Haymitch asks.

Peeta thought about all the times he and Gale came home with game. He wasn't as good as his father had been but his aim was pretty decent. "I'm all right."

"He's excellent!" Katniss chimed in. "My father always buys his squirrels. He always comments on how the arrow never pierces the body. He hits every one in the eye. It's the same with the rabbits he sells to the butcher. He can even bring down deer!"

Peeta was surprised with her assessment of his skills and he was immediately suspicious. He never knew that Katniss observed his skills with such fervour and the fact that she had noticed had put him on edge for some unexplainable reason. Why was she even talking him up? "What are you doing?" he eyed her with skepticism.

"What are _you_ doing?" Katniss shot back. "If he's going to help you, he has to know what you're capable of. Don't underrate yourself."

He had never heard Katniss Everdeen speak this much before. She had always been so quiet that her words rubbed him the wrong way. "What about you? I've seen you at the market, you're pretty strong for such a small person. I've seen you lift eighty to ninety pound bags of flour. That's not nothing!"

"Yes, and I'm sure the arena will be filled with bags of flour for me to chuck at people. It's not like being able to use a weapon. You know it isn't," her nostrils flared.

"Enough," Haymitch barked. "Alright. Katniss, don't underestimate yourself sweetheart. You never know when physical strength will come into play in the arena. Very often physical power tilts the advantage to a player. Don't reveal how much you can lift in front of the other tributes. And Peeta, there are no guarantees that there will be bows and arrows in the arena but during your private session with the Gamemakers, show them what you can do. Until then, stay clear of archery. Are you any good at trapping?"

"I know a few basic snares," he muttered.

"That may be significant in terms of food. Now, the plan is the same for both of you. You go to group training and spend time trying to learn something you don't know. Throw a spear, swing a mace, learn to tie a decent knot – whatever you do, save showing what you're best at until your private sessions. Are we clear?" their mentor asks.

Both Peeta and Katniss nodded.

"One last thing. In public, I want you by each other's side every minute," Haymitch leaned back into his chair as Peeta started to object. Haymitch slammed his hand on the table. "Every minute! It's not open for discussion! You both agreed to do as I said. You will be together, you will appear amiable to each other. Now get out. Meet Effie at the elevator at ten for training!"

Peeta stood and left the table feeling anger coursing through his veins. What was Haymitch thinking? He and Katniss pretending to be friends? At some point, they were going to have to stop pretending and accept the fact that he and Katniss were supposed to be bitter adversaries. Wouldn't it be better to just accept that fact now? He couldn't go around thinking that Katniss was his friend, it would lead to all sorts of disasters in the arena and he couldn't afford to be distracted.

The next three days passed by quickly and he and Katniss moved from station to station quickly picking up valuable skills. During their time training together, he noticed his fellow tribute becoming quite handy with her knife throwing. Despite Haymitch's orders to appear mediocre, Katniss excelled at camouflaging and he passed the edible plants test without blinking an eye.

True to their word, he and Katniss spent every minute together and as the days passed, Katniss became more and more comfortable starting a conversation with him. Peeta never said much, preferring to listen to her chatter on about safe topics such as her cat. One day, Katniss emptied their bread basket and pointed out all the different types of bread from each district. Peeta tried hard to ignore the stares from the other tributes around the room.

On the second day of training, while they were taking a shot a spear throwing, Katniss noticed something. "I think we have a shadow," she whispered to him.

Peeta looked around and saw the little girl from District Eleven standing back, watching them. His heart lurched. It was the little girl that had reminded him of Prim. Up close, she looked about ten years old. He turned back around and picked up another spear, while Katniss throws.

"I think her name is Rue," she said softly.

Peeta exhaled deeply through his nose. "What can we do about it?" he asked more harshly than he intended.

"Nothing to do," Katniss replied as she bit her lip. The brunette looked at the little girl again before focusing her attention once more on her spear. "Just making conversation."

Back on the District Twelve floor, Haymitch and Effie grilled them about every moment of the day, from what they did to how the other tributes sized up. It was strange to see their mentor and their escort no longer fighting. In fact, Effie and Haymitch seemed to have teamed up, determined to whip both him and Katniss into shape. There was endless direction of what they should and shouldn't do in training.

On the third day of training, the Gamemakers started calling out the tributes for their private sessions. The room began to quiet as pairs of tributes left, one by one. By the time it was Peeta's turn, the room was filled with tension and dreaded anticipation. Finally, they called his name.

"Peeta." He turned to see Katniss smiling nervously at him. She fiddled with the end of her braid as she looked at him and bit her lip. "Shoot straight, okay?"

She looked so sincere that he felt the ice around his heart melt a little. He smiled back at her. "Thanks, I will. Remember what Haymitch said about being sure to throw the weights."

She nodded and he continued on his way. He entered the gymnasium and instantly knew that he was in trouble. The gamemakers had been there for too long, had sat through too many demonstrations with the other tributes. Some of them had too much wine and others looked like they wanted to go home. There was nothing he could do but continue with the plan.

He walked to the archery station and picked up the bow and an arrow. He relished the feeling of the weapon in his hands. He looked at the bulls-eye target in front of him and took a stance. Even as he pulled back on the string of the bow, Peeta knew something was wrong. The string was tighter than the one he used at home and the arrow was more rigid. He released the arrow and missed the target by a few inches and lost what little attention he had received from the Gamemakers. Jaw clenched, he shot arrow after arrow until he got a feel for the new weapon in his hands. He aimed at the target again and this time, the arrow landed straight in the middle.

It was excellent shooting but when Peeta looked up at the Gamemakers, he found that most of them had turned their attention towards the roasted pig that had just arrived at their banquet table. Anger filled his veins at the thought that with his life on the line, the Gamemakers were more interested in a dead pig. His heart started pounding rapidly and without thinking, he pulled another arrow and aimed it right at the table. There were shouts of alarm as the arrow skewered the apple in the pig's mouth to the wall. Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

"Thanks for your consideration," he said mockingly, taking a slight bow before walking towards the exit without being dismissed. The door slammed shut behind him.

XXX

"What on earth were you possibly thinking?" Effie paced around the room, fretting nervously as they all sat in the living room waiting for their scores to be televised that night. As soon she found out what he had done during his private session, Effie began nervously trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for his "atrocious" behavior.

Peeta had begun to feel the weight of his recklessness. Scores from the Gamemakers could help or hurt an individual tribute in terms of sponsorship and he had a feeling he had just sealed his fate. He was sure he was going to have the lowest score now, and if no one sponsored him, his chances of staying alive in the arena decreased to almost zero.

"There's nothing we can do about it now," Haymitch contemplated.

"Do you think they'll arrest me?" he asked. His stomached dropped as he remembered his promise to Prim to return home.

"Doubt it, it would be a pain to replace you at this stage," his mentor replied.

"What about my family?" Peeta persisted. "Will they punish them?"

"Don't think so. It wouldn't make much sense. See, they'd have to reveal what happened in the Training Center for it to have any worthwhile effect on the population. People would need to know what you did but they can't, since it's a secret. So it would be wasted effort," Haymitch took a sip of his drink. "Most likely they'll make your life hell in the arena."

"Well, they've already promised to do that to us anyway," Katniss spoke up from where she sat next to him. "And anyway, I don't see what the big deal is. In fact, if anything, I think Peeta impressed them. Some of them were still in shock when I went into room. One guy was drenched from when he fell into the punch bowl." She grinned at Peeta. "The apple was still stuck to the wall."

Peeta could feel the corners of his mouth tilting up.

"What about you sweetheart? How was your session?" Haymitch asked.

"Well, I think Peeta made such an impression that they were actually interested in seeing what I could do," Katniss began playing with her braid. "So I just threw around some heavy objects and showed them my new knife throwing skills but after a few minutes they lost interest. I threw stuff around until they told me I could go. I'm probably going to get a bad score."

"Scores only matter if they're very good," Portia said from her spot on the other side of the couch. "No one pays much attention to the bad or mediocre ones. For all they know, you could be hiding your talents to get a low score on purpose. Other tributes have used that strategy in the past."

"I hope that's how people interpret the four I'll probably get," Katniss looked up and sighed. "If that. Really, is anything less impressive than watching a person pick up a heavy ball and throw it a couple of yards? I almost dropped a knife on my foot."

Peeta let out a full grin at that comment as he realized Katniss had done the impossible. The brunette had managed to cheer him up and made him feel better about his private session. Katniss looked up and saw him smiling at her and she blushed a deep shade of red.

At that moment, the program came on and they all settled back to listen to the scores. First they showed a photo of the tribute, then they flashed a score below it. The Career tributes were naturally in the eight-to-ten range. Most of the other players averaged a four or five. Peeta was pleasantly surprised to see little Rue score a seven. He had no idea what the little girl had done in her session but he was glad that she had been impressive enough to score a seven.

As usual, District Twelve came up last. Katniss' photo came up first and he heard the brunette let out a surprised gasp as the number nine flashed on the screen. Then came his photo. Heart pounding, he took a deep breath and prepared for the worst. A number flashed on the screen.

An eleven!

Effie let out a squeal and suddenly everyone was slapping him on the back and cheering and giving congratulations. It almost didn't seem real. Peeta looked at Haymitch. "There must be a mistake… how could that happen?"

"Guess they liked your temper," his mentor replied. "They've got a show to put on. They need players with some heat."

"Told you, you impressed them," Katniss said to him, grinning with delight.

"You both did very well," Cinna reached over and gave Katniss a hug. "Oh, I can't wait for you both to see your interview outfits!"

He and Katniss congratulated one another before they both headed off to bed. He burrowed himself underneath the covers, feeling the stress of the day slowly melting away. He drifted off to sleep feeling relieved and with the number eleven still flashing behind his eyelids.

The next morning was a flurry of activity. After eating a quick breakfast, Haymitch separated him and Katniss, sending the brunette off with Effie for lessons on learning how to walk in high heels for their interviews later on that day. He tried to suppress a grin at the deprecating look Katniss gave Effie behind Effie's back. He was sure glad he didn't have to wear high heels. He turned towards Haymitch and noticed his mentor frowning at him.

"What?" he asks.

"I'm trying to figure out what to do with you," Haymitch replied, still frowning. "How we're going to present you. Are you going to be charming? Aloof? Fierce? So far, you're not doing too badly. You got the top score in your session and Portia made you look unforgettable. People are intrigued, but no one knows who you are. The impression you make tomorrow will decided exactly what I can get you in terms of sponsors."

Having watched the tribute interviews all his life, Peeta knew there was a truth to what his mentor was saying. If a tribute appealed to the crowd by either being humorous or brutal or eccentric, they gained favor. "What's Katniss' approach?"

"Kid, I hate to break it to you but this is one area where Katniss has the advantage over you. She's sweet and cheerful and has just the right amount of shyness that makes her likeable," his mentor sighed. "Whereas when you open your mouth, you come across more as sullen and hostile. You act like you could care less."

"I do not!" Peeta exclaimed hotly.

Haymitch ignored his tribute and kept right on talking. "Not to mention, the crowd will see Katniss as a brave individual for her volunteering in the place of your sister. She's the first person from District Twelve to volunteer in place of another person, that wins her favor with the crowd." Haymitch stared right at him. "People are going to be wondering why she did that and they're going to be asking you about it in your interview."

"But I don't know why she volunteered!" Peeta protested. After getting to know Katniss a little more the past few days, he was beginning to wonder if he would ever find out why she volunteered.

"It doesn't matter whether you know the reason or not," Haymitch advised. "You have to be able to play the crowd exactly right. They're going to want to know about _you_, Peeta. They'll want to know about your life, your family and all the things you care about."

Peeta shook his head. "But I don't want them to! They're already taking my future, they can't have the things that mattered to me in the past!"

"Then lie! Make something up!" Haymitch shot back.

"I'm not good at lying," he leaned back into his chair, feeling defeated.

"Well, you better learn fast," Haymitch glowered at him darkly. "You've got about as much charm as a dead slug."

The next few hours passed by slowly as he finished interview coaching with Haymitch. Towards the end of the lesson, Haymitch had started drinking once again declaring that he was impossible to teach. "I give up. Just answer the questions and try not to let the audience see how openly you despise them." In the end, he and Haymitch agreed that he would try to play at acting humble.

His last hope would be Portia. Maybe she could make him look so wonderful that no one would care what answers came out of his mouth. His prep team worked on him all afternoon and by the time Portia came into the room, he was ready for the interviews to be done and over with.

"Are you all ready for the interview then?" Portia asked as she helped him slip into his shirt. He could tell by her expression that she had been talking to Haymitch.

"I'm awful," Peeta told her. "He called me a dead slug. We tried everything he could think of and I couldn't do it. I can't pretend to be something I'm not."

Portia looked thoughtful for a moment. "Why don't you just be yourself?"

"Haymitch said that wasn't good either. He says I'm sullen and hostile."

"Well, sweetie, you are… around Haymitch," Portia said with a grin. "I don't find you so. The prep team adores you and you even won over the Gamemakers. And as for the citizens of the Capitol, well, they can't stop talking about you. They all think you're very handsome. Everyone admires your spirit."

Peeta was silent, contemplating.

"What if when you're answering the questions, you pretend you're talking to a friend back home? Who would your best friend be?"

"Gale," Peeta answered instantly. "Only it doesn't make sense, Portia. I would never be telling Gale those things about me. He and I have been friends for too long, he already knows the answers."

"What about me? Could you think of me as a friend?" Portia asked.

Of all the people he had met since he left home, Portia was by far his favorite. "I think so, but –"

"I'll be sitting with the other stylists on the main platform. You'll be able to look right at me. When you're asked a question, find me, and answer it as honestly as possible," Portia smoothed down a wrinkle that had formed on his suit.

He nodded. It was a plan. He smiled tentatively at his stylist. "Thanks Portia."

Too soon it was time for the interviews. They met up with the rest of the District Twelve crowd at the elevator. He saw Katniss and for a moment, he couldn't connect the plain and simple baker's daughter with the girl in front of him. Cinna and his team had done an incredible job on his fellow tribute – he could hardly recognize her. Her hair was pulled out of its usual braid and styled in a complicated but elegant up do. Her dress was a mix of colors, orange and reds and a hint of pink, like sunset – his favorite color, he realized.

The elevator door opened and he saw that the other tributes were being lined up to take the stage. Since he and Katniss were from District Twelve, they would go last. Oh, how he wished he could go first and just get the whole thing out of the way! He spied all the cameras positioned on stage – every television would be turned on that night and every citizen in Panem would be focusing on them tonight.

Caesar Flickerman, the man who hosted the interviews for the games for more than forty years, bounced onto the stage. For this particular year, Caesar's hair was powder blue with his eyelids and lips painted the same color. He tells a few jokes to warm up the crowd but then gets down to business. Peeta watched as the tributes from each district wowed the audience in their own ways. The female from district one oozed sex appeal while the boy from district two displayed his ruthlessness. And then, suddenly, Caesar was calling his own name. Peeta slowly stepped onto the stage, walked towards Caesar and shook his hand. He resisted the urge to wipe his hands on his suit.

"So, Peeta. The Capitol must be quite a change from District Twelve. What's impressed you the most since you arrived here?"

"Um," Peeta desperately racked his brain for an appropriate answer. His eyes found Portia in the audience. "The food… definitely the lamb stew."

"The one with the dried plums?" he asks. Peeta nodded. "Oh, I eat it by the bucket full!" Caesar grinned and proceeded to show off to the audience. The crowd shouted and applauded. The host continued asking Peeta questions and he answered to the best of his ability. How much he loved the lamb stew, how he had never been anywhere in his life before coming to the Capitol and how amazing the city was. At Caesar's last question, Peeta felt his guard come back up.

"Let's go back to the moment they called your sister's name at the reaping," Caesar reminisces. "You obviously weren't very happy. Can you tell us about her? What was going through your mind?"

Peeta paused. _Be honest, _he reminded himself. He swallowed. "Her name is Prim. She's just twelve and I love her more than anything."

The City Circle was silent now, anticipating his every word. Caesar patted his shoulder sympathetically. "And how did you feel when Miss Everdeen stepped up to volunteer in her place?"

He looked over his shoulder to see Katniss standing at the side of the stage. Her gazed locked with his and suddenly the one thing Peeta had wanted to say to her ever since this whole thing started, came tumbling out of his mouth. "I'm incredibly grateful to her. I thought I was going to lose my mind, watching Prim walk up to the stage. When Katniss volunteered… there was nothing I could say… the words 'thank you' just don't seem like enough…" he kept his gaze on Katniss. "I'll be forever in her debt because of what she did."

The buzzer went off, signalling the end of his interview. "Sorry folks, we're out of time! Best of luck, Peeta Mellark, tribute from District Twelve!"

He tore his gaze away from Katniss and stood. The applause continued long after he was seated and he looked to Haymitch for reassurance. Haymitch gave him an approving nod and subtle thumbs up. He leaned back in a daze and let out a sigh of relief. That was it, his interview was over. He settled back and watched as Caesar introduced Katniss onto the stage. He watched, fascinated, as she slowly charmed the crowd with her quiet but cheerful personality. She had the audience from the get-go; the crowd laughing and shouting. She played up being the baker's daughter, comparing all of their fellow tributes to their district breads. It struck him just how different the girl on stage was compared to the shy girl in district twelve. Not that he ever really knew her back home… back then she had just been the girl with the bread…

His first memory of her flashed through his mind… feet pounding… her running towards him in the raining… having the loaves of bread pressed into him…

Peeta shook his head and focused on what was going on in front of him. Katniss was delightedly showing Caesar the dress Cinna had designed. "Cinna is brilliant," she gushed, shyly looking up at their host for the interviews. "It's the most gorgeous costume I've ever seen and I can't believe I'm wearing it," she lifts up the hem of her dress and it sparkles in the light. "Can I show you?"

"Oh absolutely!" Caesar gestures wildly.

Katniss stood up and moves forward a few steps and twirls for the crowd, her dress fanning out and suddenly flames engulfed her. The audience broke into cheers at the dazzling sight and Peeta had to admit that she looked beautiful. "Miss Everdeen, you're on fire!" Caesar cried with gusto as Katniss sat back down and folded her hands back into her lap.

"Now Katniss, I think we were all very moved when you volunteered for Prim Mellark at the reaping," the host paused for dramatic effect and the crowd became so silent, you could hear a pin drop. The audience was filled with anticipation. From where he sat, Peeta could see Katniss suddenly stiffen and sit up straighter. He leaned forward, his gaze trained on her. "Did she come say goodbye to you?"

Katniss nodded. "Yes, she did," she answered softly. Peeta's eyes widened. He hadn't known his sister had visited Katniss at the Justice Building. Prim hadn't even mentioned a thing to him.

"And what did you say to her in the end?"

Katniss bit her lip. "I… I – I promised her that I would do everything I could to help her brother go home."

There was a collective gasp from the audience. A heat-filled feeling began to take over him, his heart began pounding rapidly and the sound of rushing blood filled his ears. What was going on? What was she doing? What was she talking about? He stared at her, unable to fully comprehend her words.

"I think we would all like to know Katniss, why did you volunteer for little Primrose's place?"

Katniss blushed heavily, looking as if she had been caught doing something really naughty. She looked at Caesar, her eyes widening slightly. "Well, I knew how much Peeta loved his sister and she really is the sweetest girl. I knew it would destroy him if she got hurt," she paused. "I volunteered because… because…"

She trailed off, blushing redder than before and everyone could see how vulnerable she was in that moment. Caesar took her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "It's alright darling, tell Caesar all about it."

"Prim is the most important person in the world to Peeta. And he was completely devastated when her name was picked. I couldn't stand back and let that little girl go into the games." Katniss took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "You see Caesar, I understand how that feels because _I _was completely devastated when Peeta's name was picked. My heart was broken."

"Your heart was broken? But why?"

Katniss bit her lip. "Because… because now there can't ever be a future for us."

The air was filled with a thick tension. He couldn't remember how to breathe. He was frozen and all he could do was stare at her in shock.

"Because I'm in love with Peeta Mellark."

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**Reviews make me very happy... we could all use a little happiness in the world don't you think? ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi all! **

**I hope this chapter won't get too confusing for you guys. The way I wrote it, all the events in this chapter takes place at the same time. First we see Peeta's first day of the games and then we see Katniss' side. This takes place all at the **_**same**_** time. Make sense? I hope so. It's possible that I am very sleep derived at the moment. Yikes!**

**If you see any spelling/grammar mistakes, let me know and I'll fix them right away!  
**

**Disclaimer: I think we all know who owns The Hunger Games :)  
**

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**Chapter Four: In Which the Games Begin. **

"Because I'm in love with Peeta Mellark."

Peeta couldn't breathe. He was stuck, frozen, glued to his chair as he stared at Katniss in shock. The brunette on stage was determinedly not looking in his direction and he could see out of the corner of his eye, his reaction on the large television screen as the cameras trained their lenses on him. He could see his face, eyes wide, pale with his mouth half open in a mix of surprise and horror magnified on every screen. Realizing that everyone could see him, he pressed his lips together and stared at the floor, hoping to conceal the flurry of emotions that were starting to boil up within him.

"Oh, that's real bad luck," Caesar said sympathetically, while rubbing Katniss' hand reassuringly. The crowd murmured in agreement and a few had even given agonized cries.

"Yeah," Katniss agreed. She was still blushing, though now there was a look of sadness in her eyes as well. "It's not great."

"Well, I don't think any of us can blame you. It'd be hard not to fall for that young man," said Caesar. "He didn't know?"

Katniss shook her head. "Not until now. I don't think he even knew I existed until the reaping."

Peeta looked up at the screen long enough to see that the blush on his cheeks was unmistakable and the tips of his ears completely red.

"Wouldn't you just love to pull him back out here and get a response?" Caesar asked the audience. The crowd's screams were deafening, showing their response to Caesar's question. "Sadly, rules are rules and Peeta Mellark's time has been spent. Well, best of luck to you, Katniss Everdeen, and I think I speak for all of Panem when I say our hearts go with yours."

The roar of the crowd was overwhelming and ear-piercing as Katniss stood up from her seat. She had absolutely wiped the rest of the tributes off the map with her declaration of love for him and it took several minutes for the audience to settle down. All the tributes stood for the anthem and Peeta had to raise his head out of respect, unable to avoid seeing that every screen in the area were now dominated by a shot of him and Katniss.

He waited until he arrived back at the training center to confront her, anger boiling in his veins. As soon as she stepped through the elevator doors, he grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her against the wall, trapping her so she couldn't escape. Katniss let out a cry as she slammed hard into the wall. "What did you say those things for?" He shouted at her. "You had no right to go and say those things about me!"

Suddenly Haymitch was in front of him, shoving him away from Katniss. "Hands off her, boy!" Somewhere behind him, Effie let out a horrified gasp. When had the rest of them arrived?

The anger coursed through him, burning even hotter at the sight of his mentor. "This was your idea, wasn't it?" His voice became more harsh. "Turning me into some kind of fool in front of the country?"

"It was _my_ idea," Katniss said, wincing as she rubbed the spot on her arm where he had grabbed her. There were tears welling up in her eyes. "Haymitch just helped me with it. Don't blame him!"

"Oh yes, Haymitch is very helpful," he snorted.

"You _are_ the biggest idiot," Haymitch said with disgust. "Do you think she hurt you? This girl just gave you something you could never achieve on your own!"

"She made me look weak!" He protested. "I'm a laughing stock!"

"She made you desirable! And let's face it, you can use all the help you can get in that department." Haymitch spat back. "You have the looks but none of the charm that goes with it. You were about as romantic as dirt until she said she wanted you. Now they all do! They're all crazy for you! You're all they're talking about. The star-crossed lovers from District Twelve!"

"But we're not star-crossed lovers! We're not even really friends!" Peeta yelled, catching the brief look of hurt that crossed Katniss' face before it disappeared. He didn't stop to dwell on it.

Haymitch got up in his face. "Who cares?" he bellowed, specks of his saliva landed on him. "It's all a big show! It's all about how you're perceived! The most I could say about you after your interview was that you were nice enough, although that in itself is a small miracle. Now I can say you're a heartbreaker. Oh, oh, oh, how all the girls back home fall longingly at your feet. _Which do you think will get you more sponsors_?"

Peeta could feel himself calming down, his rage slowly simmering as he shoved Haymitch away from his face. He stepped away, trying to clear his head. Portia came over and place an arm around him. "He's right, honey."

He had no idea what to think. How could no one have informed him of this plan? "I should've been told so I didn't look so stupid."

"No, your reaction was perfect," said Cinna. The stylist was standing by Katniss and looking at him sympathetically. "If you had known, it wouldn't have read as real."

Their words were sinking in, his anger faded. Peeta was torn now between thinking he had been used and thinking he had been given an edge. Haymitch was right. He had survived his interview, but what was he really? Any moment of substance he had, had been when he talked about Prim. Compared with the other tributes, he had been forgettable – that is, until Katniss' interview. She had made him an object of love… and to hear Haymitch tell it, he had many admirers. If the audience really thought they were in love… He remembered how the crowd had responded to Katniss' confession. Star-crossed lovers. All of them were right – the Capitol citizens ate that stuff up. Suddenly he was worried that he hadn't reacted properly.

"After she said she loved me, did you think I could be in love with her too?" he asked.

"Absolutely!" Effie burst out. "I thought so. The way you avoided looking at the cameras… the blush!" The others chimed in, agreeing.

"You're pretty much golden, kid." Haymitch took a sip from his flask that he had produced from his pocket. "You're going to have sponsors lined up around the block."

Peeta sighed, feeling embarrassed now about his reaction. He looked at Katniss, wincing as he noticed a bruise beginning to form on her arm from where he grabbed her. "I'm really sorry. Are you okay?"

"It doesn't matter," she shrugged, smiling hesitantly at him. "I'll be fine."

After they ate dinner that night, they settled in the living room to watch the recap of the interviews. He watched himself on screen, looking completely uncomfortable as Caesar asked him questions. Then he sees Katniss, being all charming and then utterly winning as the girl in love. The television flashed to a shot of him and there he was, blushing and confused, made desirable and more attractive by Katniss' words and tragic by circumstance. By all accounts, he was completely unforgettable. A feeling came over him at the sight of Katniss onscreen, smiling and blushing. The look in her eyes was bright as she waved to the crowd. It was an unrecognizable emotion, one he couldn't identity. He didn't let himself dwell on it and resisted the urge to turn and look at the girl sitting next to him.

When the recap was over and the anthem played, the television went dark and a hush fell over the room. The games were starting the next day and at dawn, he and Katniss would be roused and prepared for the arena. As soon as they were done there, Haymitch and Effie were to head to the Games Headquarters to begin signing up their sponsors and working out a strategy on how and when to deliver their gifts. Portia and Cinna would travel with him and Katniss to the area where he and Katniss would be launched into the arena. The final goodbyes had to be said here.

Effie took both of them by the hand and with actual tears in her eyes, wished them well. After giving them both kisses on the cheek and telling them they were the best tributes she had the privilege of escorting, she departed.

Haymitch crossed his arms and looked them both over.

"Any last words of advice?" Katniss asked softly.

"When the gong sounds, get the hell out of there. Both of you avoid the blood bath at the Cornucopia. Just clear out and put as much distance as you can between yourselves and the other tributes. And find a source of water," he said. "Got it?"

"And after that?" Peeta asked.

"Stay alive," Haymitch repeated the same words he used the first time he met them, only this time he was sober and not laughing. The look in his eyes were completely serious. They both nodded. What else was there to say?

He laid in bed that night, staring up at the ceiling. He knew he needed to sleep but it was damn near impossible. His mind wouldn't let him rest, couldn't stop imagining what terrain he would be thrown into in a few hours time. One, two, three hours passed before he sighed and sat up from his bed. It was no good. Feeling his room become like a prison cell, he pulled the covers away from his body and climb out of bed. He padded into the hallway and headed towards the kitchen, his footsteps silent. Just before he reached the end of the hallway, he noticed a door to his right that was ajar.

Feeling his curiosity get the better of him, he slipped through the opening and climbed up the stairs. He found that the stairs led him up to the roof. The roof wasn't lit at night, but as soon as his bare feet touched the tiled surface, he saw her silhouette, black against the light that shined endlessly in the Capitol. There was a commotion going on down in the streets, music and singing and car horns, none of which he could hear through the thick heavy energy field that closed the roof, preventing anyone from jumping.

Something compelled him to move forward and Peeta moved silently until he came up beside her and sat down next to her. Katniss stiffened the moment she felt his presence but then relaxed when she saw him. He glanced at her. It was rare that she wore her hair down, it was always pulled into a braid whenever he saw her but that night, on their last night, her hair hung loose in waves around her face and down her back. He hadn't realized her hair was that long. At that moment, she wasn't the girl on fire nor was she the girl with the bread. She was just Katniss Everdeen, a shy and simple sixteen year old girl. With a start, he realized she was really pretty. He resisted the urge to reach out and touch her hair… it looked so soft!

It was a moment before he spoke, breaking the silence between them. "You should be getting some sleep."

She gave a start but then gave a slight shake of her head. Her eyes were still trained on the view below them. "I didn't want to miss the party. It's for us, after all."

He gazed down, over the edge of the rail. The wide streets were filled with dancing people. "Are they in costumes?" he asked, squinting at the tiny figures below.

"Who could tell? They wear such crazy outfits here," she answered before glancing at him. "Couldn't sleep either?"

He shook his head. "Couldn't turn my mind off."

"Thinking about your family?"

"No," he admitted guiltily. "All I can do is wonder about tomorrow, which is pointless, of course." In the light from below, he could clearly see the bruise he had given earlier that evening. "I really am sorry about your arm."

She shook her head and smiled softly at him. "It's alright, Peeta. I never meant to embarrass you, you know." Again, he thought she looked really pretty. He felt his heart skipped a beat and shook off the feeling. This was no time to be thinking such thoughts. "I've never been a contender in these Games anyway."

He gave a start, looking at her intently. For some unexplainable reason, hearing her talk that way made him feel uneasy. He didn't like it. "That's no way to be thinking," he said.

"Why not? It's true," she shrugged. "My best hope is to not disgrace myself and…"

She trailed off. Peeta shifted so he was now facing her and leaned forward. "And what?"

"I don't know how to explain it exactly. Only… I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?" she asked. Peeta shook his head. "I don't want them to change me in there, turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not."

He sat up straighter, suddenly seeing Katniss for who she was. She was incredibly kind, he had always known this. An image of her pressing loaves of bread into his arms flashed through his mind before he shook it off. But now, he truly saw her purity of self. The way she struggled to maintain her identity. "Do you mean you won't kill anyone?"

She shook her head. "No, when the time comes, I'm sure I'll kill just like everyone else. I can't go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to… to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their games."

Suddenly, he understood her meaning. He shook his head. "If only there was a way. Unfortunately, there's not."

Katniss sighed and looked at him. "You know you don't have to worry about me in the arena, right Peeta? You know I'm not your enemy, don't you?"

He stiffened and looked at her. He wasn't sure what her words meant. Was she saying that just so he would let his guard down? Only one person was getting out alive in the games and that meant he had to worry about _everything_ in the arena. It meant that _everyone_ was his enemy. He couldn't bring himself to acknowledge what she was saying, couldn't understand what she was doing. Couldn't bring himself to read between the lines. He had to go home to Prim. "I think you should care about what Haymitch said. About staying alive."

She gave him a sad smile. "I plan on staying alive as long as I can but we'll see how long that lasts."

Her words were almost like a slap in the face. How could she give up so easily when she had fought so hard since the start of the reaping? There was something unspoken in her words but he couldn't figure it out. He couldn't figure _her_ out. "Look, if you want to spend the last hours of your life planning some noble death in the arena, that's your choice. I want to spend mine in District Twelve," he told her.

"Wouldn't surprise me if you do," Katniss answered. "Give my father my best when you make it back, will you?"

Peeta stood up. "Count on it," he said, before turning and leaving the roof.

XXX

Katniss stood with Cinna in the catacombs underneath the arena a few hours later. She hadn't gotten much sleep after her conversation on the roof with Peeta. All she could do was lay in her bed and think about all the possibilities of what she was going to do once she was in the arena. Her heart was pounding and for the first time, she let her fear overcome her. She was terrified!

She bit her lip and shook her head, pushing all negative thoughts away. No, she couldn't let her fear take her. She had to be strong enough to help Peeta. There was no other option for her. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. At the very least, she was comforted by the fact that Haymitch had promised her he would do everything he could from his side of things.

"_You all ready for tomorrow, sweetheart?" For once, Haymitch wasn't speaking in his usual gruff and drunken manner. He looked concerned for her well-being. "You know, it's not too late to change your mind about wanting to stay alive." _

_She shook her head. "No Haymitch. I want to save him. This is my choice." She had never been more sure of anything in her entire life. _

_Her mentor stared at her and sighed. "He could live a thousand lifetimes and not deserve you, sweetheart. You're too good." _

_Katniss smiled and threw her arms around her mentor, surprising him with a tight hug. "Thank you for everything Haymitch."_

_He hugged her back just as tightly and Katniss was surprised to find tears in his eyes when she pulled back. "Good luck tomorrow, sweetheart." _

"Are you alright Katniss?"

She was pulled from her thoughts by Cinna, who was looking at her with the utmost concern. He had finished with her hair, pulling it into her usual trademark style, a long single braid down her back. She looked at herself in the mirror that was off to the side. She was dressed in a simple outfit, with tawny pants and a hooded black jacket that fell to her thighs. Cinna had told her that the materials in her jacket were designed to reflect body heat so she was to expect some cool nights. She glanced at her stylist and smiled as best as she could. "I'm really scared," she admitted to him. Tears welled up in her eyes but didn't spill over onto her cheeks.

Cinna reached over and pulled her into a hug. "You are the bravest girl I know, Katniss Everdeen. I want you to remember this. I'm not allowed to bet, but if I could, my money would be on you."

"Really?"

"Really," he leaned down and kissed her forehead, momentarily reminding her of her father. There was a pang in her heart at the thought of her father. He pulled away and reached into his pocket and pulled out the mockingjay pin Madge had given her at the reaping. Her eyes widened when she saw it. She had completely forgotten about it, it had seemed so long ago.

"Where did you get that?" she asked.

"Off the blue outfit you wore on the train," he replied as he pinned the mockingjay to her shirt. "It's your district token, isn't it?" She nodded, her fingers reaching up to trace the pin. She felt another pang. She missed Madge.

A pleasant female voice suddenly came on over the intercom announcing that it was time to prepare for launch. Cinna walked Katniss over to the circular metal plate that was in the center of the room. "Remember what Haymitch said," he reminded her. "Run, find water and the rest will follow."

She nodded. "Thanks Cinna. Thanks for everything."

And then a glass cylinder started lowering as the metal plate she stood on started rising. Another few seconds and suddenly she was in the open air, standing in the bright sunlight. She blinked, aware of the smell of pine trees in the distance. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. _This is it, Everdeen. Now comes the hard part. _

And then came the voice of the Head Gamemaker, Seneca Crane, his voice booming all around the arena. "Ladies and Gentleman, let the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games begin!"

XXX

Sixty seconds.

In sixty seconds, the battle for his life would begin.

Peeta Mellark stood on his platform watching as the minute countdown started. He took a quick look at his surroundings, feeling a small flicker of delight as he spotted the large clump of trees to his left in the distance. He knew he definitely had an advantage in the woods. His eyes then surveyed his fellow tributes. He noticed Katniss standing on her own platform five tributes away from him and even though it was a fair distance, he knew she was looking right at him. She was shaking her head at him but with the sun in his eyes, he couldn't be sure what she was trying to communicate with him.

He looked ahead and there in front of him, was the Cornucopia, a giant golden horn shaped like cone with a curved tail, the mouth of which is at least twenty feet high and spilling over with things that would give the tributes the advantage in the arena. Food, containers of water, weapons, medicine and other more valuable supplies were at the center, while the less valuable items laid further away. He could almost hear Haymitch's voice in head, _run into the woods. Just clear out, put as much distance between yourself and the others and find water. _

But it was so tempting to just head straight for the Cornucopia, especially when he saw the silver sheath of arrows and a bow, already strung just waiting to be engaged. He knew instantly that they were placed there specifically for him by the Gamemakers. He positioned his feet in the direction of the bow and arrows, deciding to ignore Haymitch's first piece of advice.

The gong sounded and suddenly there's a flurry of activity and he's off, running as fast as he could, right towards the weapon that could be his very salvation in the games. He could see the bow and arrows becoming closer as he ran and just as he reached out to grab them, a knife came whizzing by, missing his fingers by nearly a second. He looked to his left and saw the girl from District Two, clutching about half a dozen small knives coming at him and with a malicious grin on her face. He remembered this girl in training; she was deadly and never missed a target. He was her next target. Peeta cursed to himself and then ducked as another knife came flying at him. Deciding to forgo the bow and arrows for the moment, he turned sharply to the right and as he did so, he spotted a bright orange backpack and bent to pick it up as he ran straight for the woods.

At the edge of the woods, he turned for one instant to survey the field behind him. The sight made him feel sick as he saw about a dozen tributes hacking away at one another at the horn. There were several tributes that already laid dead on the ground and the others had already disappeared into the trees the opposite of where he was. He turned and continued running until the woods hid him from the other tributes and then slowed down into a steady pace that he knew he could maintain for a while.

He jogged for a few hours, feeling rejuvenated from being in the woods and enjoying the fact that he was in solitude, even if it was an illusion and he was probably on-screen at that very moment. Peeta knew that there were usually so many deaths to show the first day of the games that a tribute trekking through the woods wasn't much to look at. The Capitol would show the audience glimpses of him enough to show that he wasn't injured and was on the move.

It was late afternoon when he began to hear the cannons, each shot representing a dead tribute. If the cannons were sounding, that meant the fighting at the Cornucopia must have finally stopped. Peeta slowed down and paused nearby a tree, counting as the shots rang out. _One… two… three… _and on and on until the shots reached eleven. Eleven dead in all and thirteen left to play. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and wondered what had happened to Katniss. Had she lasted through the day? Was she alright? He tried to remember if he had seen her once the action had started but the last image he could remember had been of her shaking her head at him.

Suddenly, an overwhelming feeling overcame him by the thought of Katniss being possibly dead, bled white, being collected and shipped back to District Twelve. It was a foreign feeling, one that he wasn't used to and didn't know what the name for it was but had felt once or twice before. All he knew for a fact, was that he didn't like idea of the girl with the bread being gone. Peeta shook his head to clear it of all thoughts. _Get a grip Mellark,_ he told himself. Perhaps if Katniss was gone, it would be better that way. He didn't want to end up with the unpleasant task of killing her later on.

The blonde slumped down and leaned against the tree, exhausted. He reached out and began going through his backpack to see what he had to work with, sighing with frustration at how close he had been to getting his bow and arrows. He would have to figure out another way to get them but at least he hadn't left the Cornucopia empty handed. He had to somehow get his hands on a weapon and soon.

He lifted the flap and carefully pulled out the provisions within. One thin black sleeping bag that reflected body heat. A pack of crackers. A pack of dried beef strips. A box of wooden matches. A small coil of wire. A small pocket knife. And at the very bottom of the bag, two bottles of water.

Peeta smiled a full-fledged grin at the sight of the water. How lucky! He would still have to find a water source but at the moment, his top priority was finding a safe place to sleep for the night since it was nearing nightfall. He was sure the career tributes would most likely be hunting for people to kill through the night. He walked for another hour, inspecting each tree carefully. Finally, he came across a willow tree that wasn't to terribly tall but was set in a clump of other willows, offering concealment in long, flowing tresses.

He walked a little further and set up a few snares, knowing it was risky but felt he had no other choice. He had seen some rabbits hopping about as he had been running into the woods right after the blood bath, so he knew there was fresh game about. He needed to get food somehow.

He walked back to the willow tree. Carefully testing out his weight against the branches, he climbed up, pulling on the stronger branches closer to the trunk and within minutes he was resting against a sturdy fork as his bed. As a precaution, he removed his belt and strapped it around his waist along with the branch. That way, if he rolled over in his sleep, he wouldn't fall out of the tree.

Night had fallen and the sound of the anthem came on indicating that there was a death recap starting. Through the branches of the trees, Peeta could see the seal of the Capitol, appearing out of nowhere and floating in the sky. The anthem faded out and the sky went dark for a moment and then photographs of the dead tributes began appearing, alongside their district numbers.

The first to appear was the girl from district three, which meant that all the tributes from District One and Two had survived. No surprise there. Then came the boy from four. His eyes widened. Peeta hadn't expected that one, usually all the careers made it through the first day. The boy from 5… he guessed the female who looked like a fox had made it through the first day… both tributes from six and seven… the boy from eight… both from nine… only one more tribute to go…

The girl from District Ten.

Relief filled him and he let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Katniss was still alive! He slumped against his tree trunk and closed his eyes. The conflicting emotions that welled up within him whenever he thought of Katniss always confused him. Out here alone with only his thoughts, he allowed his mind to drift over the events of the last few days with Katniss. The gratitude that he felt when she gave him an edge by professing her love for him in the interview… their conversation on the roof… the way she cheered him up after his disastrous private session with the Gamemakers… her volunteering for Prim for the games… and most importantly, the way she had saved him and his family when he was eleven by giving him bread…

He didn't know why he fixated on that particular memory the most whenever he thought of Katniss. He felt a pang in his heart, that foreign but unnameable feeling again that was now slowly starting to become familiar.

He slowly started to drift off to sleep with the image of a brunette girl, smiling sweetly with her hair in a long braid floating beneath his eyelids.

XXX

Sixty seconds.

In sixty seconds, the battle for her life would begin.

Or rather, the battle for hers _and_ Peeta's life.

Katniss stood nervously on her platform, trying desperately to calm her racing heart as the countdown began. Her eyes automatically began searching for her fellow tribute, as they always did and she found him standing five tributes away from her. Satisfied that she knew where he was for the moment, she took in her surroundings and upon seeing the woods in front of her, she inwardly groaned. Great. _How the hell was she going to survive in the woods?_ She wasn't cut out for this!

Her gaze then went to the Cornucopia and to the piles and piles of provisions stacked neatly in the middle. Her eyes widened upon seeing the silver bow and arrows lying right on top. Instantly, she knew that the Gamemakers had placed them there in hopes of luring Peeta to his weapon of choice. And knowing Peeta the way she did, she knew he would try and grab it once he saw it. The odds that she could help Peeta survive were starting to stack up against her more and more.

She turned to look at Peeta again and was surprised when she caught his gaze. Immediately she began shaking her head, hoping he would catch her meaning. _Don't you dare go for that bow, Peeta Mellark! Just get to safety first!_ Her heart sank as she watched him position himself in the direction of the Cornucopia. She groaned to herself again. Why did that boy have to make her life so difficult? Letting out a silent sigh, she positioned herself in the direction of the Cornucopia as well. Oh, the things she did for love!

The gong sounded and she was off and running, keeping an eye on Peeta's back as she ran. All around her were shouts and screams as the first of the career tributes reached the middle of the Cornucopia. She watched in horror as the girl from District Two appeared and threw her knife at Peeta just as he reached the spot where the bow and arrows rested. The knife missed him.

Katniss dodged as two tributes to her left crashed into one another and began fighting. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a backpack lying on the ground and she sprinted the twenty yards, sensing the opportunity to grab it. She reached the pack at the same time the boy from District Nine did and for a brief moment, they grappled for it.

But she was stronger and with a hard yank, the strap slipped from the boy's fingers. At the same moment though, the boy coughed and suddenly she was sprayed with droplets of blood. She staggered back as the boy fell forward and that's when she saw the knife in his back. Quickly, she reached forward and grabbed it, trying her best to press down the nausea that had suddenly formed in her throat.

She looked up just in time to see another knife coming straight at her and instinctively she hiked the pack up to protect her head. The knife lodged itself into the fabric. She looked up again and saw the boy from District Four running toward her. She gulped. A Career!

Pure adrenaline shot through her and suddenly she was running faster than she had ever run in her life. For some unexplainable reason, she somehow knew that the boy from District Four wouldn't pursue her – that he would be drawn back to the Cornucopia before all the good stuff was gone. She let a brief smile cross her face. _Thanks for the extra knife,_ she thinks.

As she ran towards the woods, she spotted Peeta up ahead to her far right and as fast as she was running, Katniss knew she would never catch up to him in time. The blonde disappeared into the woods and faded from her sight. At least she knew that he was safe for the moment. That he was alive. _Come on Everdeen,_ she told herself. _You gotta get yourself somewhere safe first and then you can figure out how to find Peeta later. _

She continued to run past trees and ran until she couldn't run anymore. She collapsed against a tree, trying to catch her breath and sank to the ground. She glanced up at the sky. Judging from the position of the sun, she guessed it was about noon. The games had only been going on for a couple of hours. She sighed and glanced down, suddenly remembering that she was still holding the bloody knife she had grabbed from the dead tribute's back. She wiped the knife against the grass, trying to get off as much blood as possible. The nausea welled up within her again and she took a deep breath, trying to keep it down.

She reached to the side and gave a small smile as she saw the backpack she had actually managed to grab. The knife that the District Four boy had thrown at her was still lodged in the middle of the fabric and she pulled it out slowly, careful to not tear the pack any more than it had. What were the chances she would have ended up with _two_ knives _and_ a backpack? While she had been standing on the platform, she had just been hoping to get out of there alive. She had never expected this.

She opened the pack and began pulling out what was inside. She smiled as she found a small first-aid kit – that was sure to come in handy at some point, she was sure. A bottle of iodine. A pair of socks and an extra t-shirt. A small flashlight. Two granola bars and a bag of dried fruits. And a half-gallon plastic bottle with a cap for carrying water that was bone dry. _Well Katniss, I guess you got lucky with getting all this stuff. You gotta work for your food now. _

For the first time, she wished she had thought to ask Peeta for advice on how to hunt for food. One of the many things she admired about the blonde boy was his ability and knowledge on how to survive in the wilderness. He knew where to look for food, what was safe to eat. Katniss had no idea how long she was going to survive out here – she was at a complete disadvantage.

She shook the negative thoughts from her head. No, she was Katniss Everdeen and one of her defining traits was that she was stubborn. Once she set her mind to something, rarely did she ever change it. And right now, she was determined to find food. And water. Definitely find water.

She pulled herself up and began to walk, admiring the view of the trees as she did so. She had never been to the woods in District Twelve considering it was illegal to enter but she knew that it was Peeta's sanctuary. Katniss had many daydreams in which she imagined Peeta taking her to his favorite spot (if he had one) and sharing it with her. Seeing the vibrant shades of green and smelling the fresh air, it gave her a peaceful feeling. She wondered if this was what Peeta felt when he was in the woods.

Lost in her daydream, Katniss was suddenly pulled back to reality when she heard shouts coming from her left. She looked over and there, about ten feet away, were two male tributes fighting one another. She instantly hid behind a large tree, her senses on high alert and looked around. One of the male tributes had been from District Four – the one that had almost sent a knife flying into her head at the blood bath. If the male from District Four was here, that meant the other Careers weren't too far away either.

She peeked around the tree. The tribute that the boy from four was fighting was large and very well-built – he was the boy from District Eleven, Thresh, if Katniss could remember his name correctly. Although Thresh was holding on his own with his immensive strength, he was almost no match for the burly boy from the fishing district. The boy from four was a Career and thus, had probably spent his entire life training for the games. His skills with the knife and ax in his hands were used with precision and it was all Thresh could do to keep himself from getting sliced by one of them.

Katniss bit her lip, racking her brains trying to figure out what she should do. The smart thing to do, would be to leave and let them finish each other off. But Thresh clearly needed help and he had no weapons of his own… She peeked around the tree again. The boy from four had Thresh pinned on his back, although Thresh had each of Four's arms in a tight grip, preventing the tribute from being able to use his weapons at the moment. It was obvious though, that Thresh was moments away from death. This was her chance.

She took off running and within moments, she tackled the boy from four to the side, freeing Thresh and losing his ax in the process. The boy from four let out a surprised gasp but quickly recovered as he brought his arm up and hovered above her, his knife pointed down. Katniss quickly knocked the arm that currently had her pinned down with her elbow and rolled to the side just as the knife came down.

"You won't get away from me this time, twelve!" the boy from four snarled as he stood up and moved swiftly. Katniss barely had time to dodge the swinging knife before he was over her again. She was panting and at a disadvantage but saw an opportunity to kick him hard in the leg and she scrambled backwards as the boy stumbled. He quickly regained his balance and stalked towards her again.

There was a shuffle and suddenly Thresh was there behind the boy from four. Four turned just in time and brought up his knife to protect himself as it collided with the ax that Thresh now had in his possession. "That's mine, Eleven!"

"Well, it's mine now, Marius," Thresh replied as they continued to fight.

So the boy from District Four was named Marius. _Focus, Everdeen. Who cares what his name is? _Although Thresh was physically stronger, Marius was more skilled with a knife and Katniss let out a scream of horror as Marius managed to slice Thresh in his lower leg. Thresh's leg buckled and he fell to his knees, dropping the ax as he fell and cried out in pain. Marius raised his knife, ready to slit Thresh's throat. Katniss looked around frantically and saw a large rock on the ground next to her. She quickly picked up the rock and threw it at Marius' back as hard as she could. Seeing the rock coming towards them, Thresh quickly grabbed Marius' arm as he brought it down and bent it, repositioning the knife towards Marius' heart. Marius began to chuckle, "Do you really think you can win here, Eleven?" he said with a sneer. Then suddenly he pitched forward as the rock collided with his back and the knife drove into Marius' heart. The tribute slumped over and fell to the ground, dead in an instant.

Katniss stared at the sight in front of her in shock. One look at Thresh and she could see the boy from District Eleven was feeling the same way. Quickly, she stood up and crossed over to them. Bending, she quickly picked up Marius' discarded pack, opening it and placing the ax inside. She quickly yanked the knife from Marius' dead body, briefly noting that it was the second time she had done this today, and placed the knife in the bag as well. She slung it over one shoulder and was next to Thresh in an instant. She knelt down next to him. "Can you stand?" Thresh nodded. She offered him her arm. "Come on, we need to get out of here in case any more Careers are around."

With Katniss helping him, she and Thresh managed to get away relatively quickly. Katniss was stronger than your average girl, due to her work in the bakery and carrying around bags of flour, but even then Thresh had to lean on her shoulder as she helped dragged him away. It was luck that they came across a river an hour later and after picking a safe and secluded spot she had Thresh sit down on a rock and she went to work patching up his leg.

Thresh watched as Katniss pulled out the small first aid kit from her own pack and removed the bandages that were in the box. She lifted the hem of his pants and began cleaning the cut as best she could. She could feel him watching her as she worked and she tried not to let it show how nervous she was. Thresh was stronger than she was and she was no match for him if he decided to take her out right then and there. She worked quickly and then sat back. The cut on his leg was shallow enough and though she was no doctor, she was confident that the cut would heal with time.

Suddenly remembering the bloody knife that was in Marius' pack, she reached for it and pulled it out. However, when she saw the blood stains, memories of how Marius died flashed through her mind and she felt the nausea in her stomach again. This time she couldn't hold back and she leaned over and vomited into the river, tears springing to her eyes as she did so.

And all of a sudden, she couldn't hold back as the tears overflowed and it dawned on her that this was the first time she had cried since arriving at the Capitol. It was all too overwhelming for her… she cried for the boy from District Nine, his death being the first one she witnessed and had alarmed her to Marius' knife heading her way… she cried tears for Marius because even though she hadn't been the one to technically kill him, she had helped contribute to his death. She cried because she missed being home and the smell of bread filling the air as it baked in the oven. She missed her father and her brothers and eating lunch with Madge. She even cried as she thought of Buttercup, her grouchy cat.

Most of all, she cried for Peeta because she didn't know where he was and if he was safe. She knew he didn't need her but damnit, she needed him! And she missed him! She needed to know that he was alive and she needed to see it with her own eyes! She wanted to see him so badly that it hurt. No matter what, she swore to herself that she would see him one last time before she died.

Minutes passed and slowly her tears stopped and her sniffling faded until she had completely calmed down. It felt good to cry, to let out all the emotions she had been bottling up since the games began. Thresh was sitting quietly off to the side, watching her, unsure of what to do. She wiped her face with her sleeve and leaned back into a rock. "Sorry," she muttered. "It's been a _really_ bad day."

The corners of Thresh's mouth tilted upwards at her bad joke and Katniss knew with sudden certainty that Thresh wasn't going to hurt her. At least, he wasn't going to hurt her right then. She returned to what she had been doing before she had lost control of her emotions. She washed the knife in the river, along with the ax and after a moment's hesitation, she offered them to Thresh.

He was visibly surprised as he took them. "Why?" he asked.

She shrugged. "You don't have any weapons to defend yourself with. I already have two knives, why would I need a third? And anyway, I wouldn't know how to use an ax. That just seems like asking for trouble to me."

Thresh nodded and fell silent for a moment. "Why did you help me?"

Katniss stared at him for a minute, silently contemplating what to say. She shrugged, looking pained. "What kind of person would I be, if I just walked away when someone needed help?"

"That kind of thinking is going to get you killed, Twelve."

"I know," Katniss smiled, despite knowing the truth in that statement. "And my name is Katniss, not twelve."

He returned the smile. "Thresh."

"It's nice to meet you officially, even if it's not under the best circumstances," she told him. Then she reached for Marius' pack. "Let's see what's hiding in here."

There was lots of food. Her stomach rumbled as she pulled out multiple plastic containers that held sandwiches, crackers and dried beef strips. She divided everything equally in half and gave one portion to Thresh. She selected a sandwich from her portion and placed the rest into her own pack for later on. Setting the sandwich aside for the moment, she continued to dig through the backpack. She found four water bottles, a jacket and a sleeping bag. After briefly discussing it with Thresh, it was decided that she would keep the jacket since it was too small for Thresh to wear and he would keep the sleeping bag.

She settled back and began munching on her sandwich, thinking thoughtfully. "Thresh," she said after a moment. "Do you know how to track somebody?"

The boy across from her shook his head. "The best advice I can give you is to keep an eye on footprints on the ground."

Her heart sank. Guess she would have to figure out another way to find Peeta. She sighed.

"So, all the stuff you said in the interviews was true then? You love your district partner?" Thresh sounded curious.

Katniss smiled, suddenly remembering that all of Panem was probably watching this conversation at that very moment. _Might as well give them a show if they're watching,_ she thought._ Give them something to wonder about._ She looked up at Thresh. "How do you know it wasn't all a ploy?"

He studied her and shook his head. "Nah. No one except the Careers would ever volunteer for the Games. And you volunteered just to keep his sister safe, for his own peace of mind. If that's not love, then I don't know what is."

She giggled, finishing up her sandwich and proceeded to fill up her empty water bottle that she had gotten from her first pack. She quickly purified it with iodine and then tucked it away into her bag and leaned back, staring up at the sky. It was getting to late afternoon now. "I've been in love with Peeta almost my whole life," she told Thresh. "I just want to know if he's okay."

They sat in silence for a few more moments before Katniss stood up and proceeded to place her pack on her shoulders. "Well, Thresh. I guess this is where we part."

Thresh nodded. "I hope I don't see you again," he told her.

Katniss understood what he meant. She knew that if they met again, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her. "I hope I don't see you again either."

"Hey Twelve," Thresh called as she began walking away. Katniss turned. He had started off in the opposite direction. "Thanks for the weapons and for helping me. I owe you one."

She smiled. "You're welcome."

She walked along for a few more hours. It was dark now and she still had to find a safe place to sleep for the night. Suddenly, the sound of the anthem came on indicating that there was a death recap starting and she glanced up into the sky, seeing the Capitol Seal fading and then photographs of the fallen tributes starting to appear. She leaned against a tree and watched. She swallowed the lump in her throat when a photo of Marius appeared and then again when the photo of the boy from District Nine came up. She grinned widely when no photo of Peeta appeared, which meant he was still alive somewhere! She just had to find him.

Her joy was short-lived though when she heard the snap of a branch somewhere to her right and then another sound coming from her left. Her heart began pounding and fear slowly filled her.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here!" Faces began appearing out of the dark. Katniss gulped. She was surrounded by the remaining Career tributes from Districts One, Two and the female from Four. The boy from District Two stepped slowly towards her as if he was hunting prey. She _was _the prey. _Cato,_ her mind supplied the name to the face. She remembered this boy from training, from his interviews. Cato twirled the sword that was in his hands and peered at her, a malicious grin on his face. "If it isn't the Girl on Fire herself!"

She was in serious trouble now.

_Oh crap. I'm doomed._

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So I'm learning how to use this site and I just found that 'Wing Beneath My Wings' was on the alert list for 74 people and on the favorites list for 36! Wow! Thanks guys! If I could send you all a cupcake, I definitely would!

There's a nice little blue button right below this note that says 'Review this Chapter.' Click that button and make my day by leaving a few words, will ya? Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Greetings, my fellow Hunger Games fans!**

**Once again, I am completely blown away by the response to this story. I'm sure there are tons of fics out there featuring Peeta and Katniss switching places but I'm humbled by the fact that you guys all chose my story to read. The last chapter got more reviews than any other! Thank you for all the amazing reviews, story alerts and messages that I've gotten! And I've actually managed to get onto the favorite author list for a few people! *squeals and does happy dance* I wish I could just give you all a great big hug! I find myself checking my email frequently just to see if I get any reviews! Writing this story has taken over my life at the moment :)  
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**If anyone is looking for a great Peeta/Katniss fic to read, my recommendation for the week is Their Giving Tree by ivorykeys09. It's such a wonderful story and made my heart pound with delight! Check it out and leave a review! :)  
**

**As usual, if you see any spelling and grammar mistakes, let me know! As my first grade teacher always said, "Punctuation and spelling is pretty important! It makes for an enjoyable read!"  
**

**Disclaimer: Who doesn't wish they owned the Hunger Games? **

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**Chapter Five: In Which Peeta Mellark Runs into Trouble. **

_Snap!_

Peeta jerked awake, all his senses on high alert as the sound of a breaking branch woke him. He blinked, looking around him, careful to not make a sound. It was still dark out. How long had he been asleep? Four hours? Five? The tip of his nose was icy cold.

_Snap! Snap!_

What was going on? Peeta shifted in the direction of where the noise was coming from, careful to stay silent. It wasn't the sound of a branch cracking under someone's foot but rather a sharp popping noise of one coming from a tree. The commotion was coming several hundred yards to his right. He peered into the darkness, trying to see what was happening.

For a few minutes, there was nothing but blackness and some scuffling. Then he saw a spark and a small fire beginning to bloom. The only other thing he could make out was a pair of hands hovering over the fire, desperately trying to get warm. He clenched his jaw, resisting the urge to scream every curse word he knew at the fire starter. What were they thinking? A fire lit at nightfall would have been one thing. Those that battled at the Cornucopia, with their superior strength and surplus of supplies, wouldn't have been near enough to spot the flames then. But now, when they've been combing the woods for hours looking for victims – the fire starter might as well have been waving a flag and shouting "come and get me, I'm right here!"

And there he was, several feet away from the biggest idiot in the Games. Strapped in a tree. He didn't dare try and run now, despite what his instincts told him. His general location had just been broadcasted to any killer nearby who cared and he didn't have any weapons to defend himself with. He had to stay as silent as possible and hope that he would go unnoticed.

A few hours passed and the first signs of dawn were approaching. Peeta felt himself begin to relax, perhaps they might have actually been overlooked. And then he heard it. Nope, it had been too much to hope. Several pairs of feet breaking into a run. He listened carefully for the person who had started the fire.

Nothing.

The fire starter must have dozed off.

And then they were on her before she could escape.

Peeta listened as the girl screamed, her cries and agonizing pleas filling the air. Minutes passed. And then the screams abruptly stopped as laughter and congratulations rang out. He frowned. So they were fighting in a pack… and he didn't have to think too hard about who this group of voices were. He was ninety-nine percent sure it was the remaining Careers. Two boys and three girls from the Districts One, Two and Four.

"We better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking." Peeta was sure this voice belonged to the large brutish boy from District Two. There were murmurs of assent and then to his horror, he could hear the footsteps begin to move in his direction.

Peeta could hardly breathe. He stayed as still as possible as the voices came closer and stopped ten yards away from his tree. The Careers had no idea he was there, how could they? He was well concealed in the clump of trees. If they kept moving, they would pass him and be gone in under a minute. He peered through the branches of the tree. The Careers had flashlights and torches and he caught a glimpse of an arm here and a boot there. He listened in on their conversation.

"Shouldn't we have heard a canon by now?"

"I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately."

"Why isn't it going off then?"

"Maybe she isn't dead."

"She's dead, I stuck her myself."

"Then where's the canon?"

"Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done."

"Yeah, we don't want to have to track her down twice."

"I said she's dead!"

An argument broke out until one tribute silenced the others. "We're wasting time! I'll go finish her and let's move on!"

Shock filled him as he recognized the last voice. It was Katniss. What was she doing with the Careers? How could she have joined up with them to hunt the rest of the tributes down? It was ludicrous, no one in District Twelve would have done such a thing! And most definitely, the Katniss that he had gotten to know over the past few days would have not considered it an option. It just didn't seem to be in her character.

It surprised him that the first thing he felt was betrayal. For there to be betrayal, there would have had to have been trust established between him and Katniss in the first place. He peeked through the cracks in the branches again, moving them slightly so he could get a better look.

"Go on then, fire girl," the boy from District Two said. "See for yourself."

He caught a glimpse of Katniss, lit by a torch as she headed back towards the girl by the fire. There were several bruises on her face, a bloody bandage on one arm and a beat-down expression in her eyes. And that's when he knew. Katniss wasn't with the Careers by personal choice, she had something else up her sleeve. With a start, he realized that a part of him had always trusted Katniss though he didn't know why. The thought disconcerted him.

The Career tributes were silent until Katniss was out of earshot before breaking into hushed voices.

"Cato, you should've killed her when we found her. Why don't we just kill her now and get it over with?"

Peeta bristled. He wanted to hurt whoever that voice belonged to for _even_ suggesting they kill Katniss.

"Aw, let her tag along," replied Cato. "What's the harm? It's not like she can do anything against us. And plus, she's handy with that knife."

"I don't like it," Cato's district partner scowled.

"You don't have to like it Clove," Cato responded. "Besides, she's our best chance at finding him."

It took Peeta a moment to register that they were referring to him. So, they thought they could use Katniss to get to him?

"Why? You think he bought into all that sappy romance stuff?" The girl from District Four asked.

"He might have. They were always together in training remember? They never left each other's sides. He seems pretty simpleminded to me."

"Wish we knew how he got that eleven!"

"Bet you Fire Girl knows."

The sound of Katniss' footsteps returning silenced them.

"Was she dead?" Cato asked.

"No, but she is now," Katniss replied, sounding pained. Just then, the cannon fired. "Are we moving on then?" She waited for the Career pack to start moving before following. But just before she left, she glanced up right at the very spot he was sitting in. He froze. She knew he was there! Her lips formed into a brief smile before she turned and followed the other tributes, disappearing into the trees.

Dawn began to break and birdsong filled the air. Peeta slumped against the tree, relieved that he hadn't been discovered but now filled with concern for Katniss. Somehow, she had known he was there but hadn't said anything to the Careers. They were hunting him, had to take him seriously because of his high score and they had found Katniss and dragged her along with them, planning on using her as bait to trap him. They had no idea that the whole star-crossed lovers thing hadn't been real.

Or was Katniss playing some kind of game? She had known he was up in the tree but hadn't let on to the others that he was there. They didn't seem to know a thing about him, didn't know how he got his score or that he could use a bow and arrow. Was she keeping the information to herself because she knew it was all that kept her alive? Was she still pretending to love him for the audience? He just couldn't figure her out.

No, there was a part of him that knew, no matter what, Katniss wouldn't ever tell the Careers about him.

_You know I'm not your enemy, don't you? _

Her words from the roof top came back to him. And with sudden certainty, he knew her words had been spoken in truth. She _wasn't_ his enemy, she never had been. For some reason he couldn't fathom, she was constantly helping him… and now, she was in trouble. He didn't know how she ended up with the Careers, but Peeta knew he couldn't just leave her with them. If he did that, it would be like signing her death warrant. And he couldn't leave her, not when he owed her so much already. He had to find a way to get her out of there.

Deciding he better get a move on, Peeta slowly unstrapped himself and climbed down the tree, careful to keep his weight even before placing both feet on even ground. Quickly, he made his way to the snares he had set up and smiled when he saw that he had managed to catch a rabbit. In no time at all, he had the rabbit cleaned and gutted and hurried back to the now dead tribute's camp. The fire she had created was still burning hot and he quickly grabbed a branch and skewered the raw rabbit, placing it over the burning embers.

He ate the rabbit quickly as he hiked along the direction he had last seen the Careers go in. After a week of eating the finest foods in the Capitol, the meat had been a little tough to swallow but Peeta had eaten plenty of rabbits back in District Twelve from years of hunting in the woods, he adjusted quickly. The sun rose high in the sky and he reached into his pack and pulled out one of his water bottles. He took small sips, careful to conserve as much water as he could. He was going to have to find a water source soon. He placed the water bottle back into his pack.

All of a sudden, he stiffened, looking around him cautiously. The birds had gone silent, he noted. And then there was an immediate rumble on the ground and his eyes started stinging. Trees began to split apart and fall. Peeta looked up, his senses on high alert.

There was a wall of fire descending on him.

Adrenaline shot through him and he began running.

The world around him had transformed to flame and smoke. Burning branches cracked from trees fell in showers of sparks all around him. He ducked and twisted, desperately trying to avoid being hit. Up ahead, he spotted a pack of wild dogs fleeing through the woods and he began following them, trusting their sense of direction, knowing that their instincts were sharper than any human's.

The heat was sweltering and awful, but what was worse was the smoke that threatened to suffocate him at any moment. Peeta pulled the top of his shirt over his nose, grateful to find it soaked in sweat and offering a thin veil of protection. As he ran, his face was cut with branches that materialized from the gray haze without warning.

Peeta knew the reason for the fire. The flames that surrounded him had an unnatural height, a uniformity that marked them as human-made, Gamemaker-made. Things had been too quiet and the audience at the Capitol were probably getting bored. That was a big no-no for the Games. After all, they had a show to put on. The rest of the tributes and the Career pack were probably too spread far apart in the arena and this was the Gamemakers' way of driving them together. The fire was designed to flush them out.

He hurdled over a burning log just as a rain of fireballs began descending. He covered his head and dodged sharply to the right as a fireball, the size of an apple, landed in the spot that he had just been and burst into flames, creating a new patch of fire being spread out. He dived, zigzagged and leaped to avoid the fireballs, all of his senses going into overdrive as the need for survival took over.

Finally, the fireball attack began to abate, which was good as his body began to convulse, desperately trying to rid itself of the poisons he'd been sucking in during the attack. He was forced to stop running. He bent over, vomiting; his retching brought tears to his eyes, taking away the sting from the smoke.

There was a hissing noise and his muscles reacted, only he wasn't fast enough this time. The fireball crashed to the ground at his side but not before it skidded across his right calf. Seeing pants leg on fire sent him over the edge. He let out a shout, scuttling backwards, rolling his leg back and forth on the ground, stifling the worst of the flames.

The attack was over for now. The Gamemakers didn't want him dead, this he knew. Everyone knew that the Gamemakers could destroy all the tributes within seconds of the opening gong at the start of the games. No, this was for the entertainment of the crowds. Every so often, they would kill a tribute just to remind players that they could but mostly they manipulated tributes into confronting one another face to face.

And since he was no longer being fired at, this meant that another tribute must be close at hand.

He dragged himself away, pain in his right calf screaming at him with every step. He had never known a pain quite like this. Up ahead, he spotted a pond and quickly as he could, hobbled over towards it and placed his leg into the water. It was blissfully cool and he felt instant relief. He sat on a rock and bathed the blood and ash from his face before gingerly lifting his leg out of the water. He bit his leg to keep from screaming.

He knew there were herbs from plants that could speed up the healing but couldn't recall any of the information at the moment. Water and time was probably all he had to work with. He pulled himself off his rock, clenching his jaw as he did so. As he began moving, the sound of pounding feet coming towards him could be heard.

He had less than a minute head start.

Adrenaline filled him and he was able to ignore the pain in his leg as he began running. His leg slowed him down but he sensed his pursuers weren't as speedy before the fire either. He could hear their coughs, their raspy voices calling out to one another. They were closing in, just like a pack of wild dogs.

He reacted instinctively. He picked a high tree and began climbing, the burning pain in his leg protesting all the way. By the time, they reached the base of his tree trunk, he was already twenty feet up. For a moment, they stopped and surveyed one another. His heart was pounding rapidly.

There they were. All five of the Careers and Katniss. Despite the situation he was in, he was relieved that she had made it through the fire and didn't look too badly hurt. She was looking up at him in horror, like she couldn't believe that they had managed to run into one another. His eyes glanced over at the rest of them. The Careers were peering up at him, grinning and snarling at a sure kill above them.

He tried not to let his fear show and grinned down at them. "How's everything with you?" He called down cheerfully.

His words and cheerful demeanor surprised them. The audience in the Capitol must be loving their interaction.

Cato took a step closer to the tree. "Well, enough," he said. "Yourself?"

"It's been a bit warm for my taste," Peeta replied. "The air's better up here, why don't you come up?"

"Think I will," Cato grinned maliciously.

He could see Katniss staring at him hard out of the corner of his eye. There was a look of alarm in her eyes that seemed to ask, _what the hell are you doing, Peeta? _

"Here Cato, take this," the girl from District One offered him her weapons.

Peeta's eyes widened. His bow and arrows!

"No," said Cato, pushing away the bow. "I'll do better with my sword." He could see the weapon strapped to Cato's waist by his belt.

Peeta gave Cato time to hoist himself into the tree before he began climbing again. As he climbed, he grinned to himself, knowing that Cato wouldn't be able to climb that far after him. He was far too heavy. Normally, someone with Peeta's height and weight wouldn't be able to climb onto the weak branches of the tree, but the blonde had climbed many trees back in District Twelve while hunting with Gale, he'd had plenty of practice. One just had to know where to place their hands and feet. He gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the screaming pain in his leg.

He was another thirty feet in the air when he heard the crack and looked down in time to see Cato flailing as he and the branch he had been on, went down. Cato hit the ground hard and got back up, swearing like a fiend. Peeta smiled slightly as he heard all the curse words flying about.

The girl from District One, Glimmer he heard someone call her, tried to climb the tree next but had the good sense to stop when the branches began to crack under her feet. She tried to shoot him and it was immediately obvious that she was incompetent with a bow. The arrow lodged itself into the tree near enough that he was able to reach for it. He waved the arrow teasingly above her head.

The Careers regrouped on the ground, growling conspiratorially among themselves, furious that he had managed to make them look foolish. Twilight had arrived and their window of attack on him was closing. Finally, he heard Katniss say harshly, "Oh, let him stay up there! It's not like he's going anywhere, anyway. We'll deal with him in the morning."

He stared hard at his fellow tribute but the brunette avoided his gaze. With a start, he realized that Katniss was trying to buy him some time. She was playing the Careers, playing the audience and putting on a show for the cameras that were surely trained on them at the moment. He didn't know when he had been able to start reading Katniss Everdeen so well, but he was sure she was trying to help him.

He leaned against the tree truck, all of his bravado gone. All the adrenaline had disappeared and he felt tired and weak. The pain in his leg was screaming and he was feeling the full potency of his burns. Night had fallen now, but he couldn't bring himself to rest, his burns forbidding it. Birds were beginning to settle down for the night, singing lullabies to their young. Night creatures emerged. An owl hoots. The eyes of some animal peered at him from a neighbouring tree, catching the firelight from the Careers' torches.

Suddenly, he was up on one elbow. Those weren't the eyes of some animal… in the dim rays of light, he could make her out silently watching him from between the branches.

It was Rue.

How long had she been there? The whole time most likely. Still and unobserved as the action folded beneath her. Perhaps she had climbed her tree shortly before he did when she heard the pack coming. For a while, they held each other's gaze. Then, without even rustling a leaf, her little hand slid out into the open and pointed to something above his head.

It took him a minute to see what Rue was pointing at. About fifteen feet up from where he was perched, sat a wasp nest hanging from a branch, swaying ever so slightly. His ears registered a low humming and instantly he knew it was a tracker jacker nest. These wasps were deadly, with a sting that could raise a lump the size of a plum on contact. Most people couldn't tolerate more than a few stings. Others died at once. If a person survived the sting, the hallucinations brought on by the venom could drive a person crazy. And the deadliest of all, these wasps would hunt down anyone that disturbs their nest and attempt to kill them.

He looked down to where the Careers were. Most of them were starting to drift off to sleep, with Glimmer leaning against a tree keeping watch – but he could see that Katniss was still awake, she was watching him with tired eyes but also wary of the Career tribute that was on guard. He inwardly sighed. Even if he could somehow drop the nest on top of the Careers without any of them noticing, there was still the problem of his escape route. There was no way he could get out of the tree fast enough with his injured leg and without getting stung in the process.

Suddenly, a knife came flying at him and embedded into the tree bark, two inches from his shoulder. He gave a start and glanced down. Glimmer had fallen asleep against the tree she was leaning on but Katniss hadn't yet gone to sleep. She was now sitting up, her eyes were wide and a hand was covering her mouth and she had an apologetic look on her face. She waved her hands frantically and shrugged sheepishly. _Sorry! _She mouthed and bit her lip.

Peeta couldn't help it. A wide grin came across his face and he let out a silent chuckle. The look she was giving him reminded him of the look Prim would give him if she thought she was in trouble. He shook his head at Katniss, still smiling. _Everdeen, we're going to have to work on your aim,_ he thought_. _He pulled the knife from the tree bark and looked at her quizzically, wondering why she had thrown her knife at him. Katniss pointed above him and then made a motion with her arm. He looked up and his face cleared of confusion.

Slowly, he pulled himself up and climbed a few more branches until he reached the limb that supported the nest. He began gradually sawing at the branch. He sawed it a third of the way through before the pain in his leg became too much for him and he had to stop. He maneuvered himself back into his original spot, only to find the best possible surprise waiting for him. Sitting next to his pack, was a small plastic pot attached to a silver parachute. His first gift from a sponsor! He quickly unscrewed the lid and upon smelling the scent, knew it was medicine for his leg. Carefully pulling back the leg of his pants, he gently began rubbing the ointment over his calf.

The relief was almost instantaneous and he let out a sigh. "Thanks Haymitch," he whispered. He wrapped up the jar and then tucked it away into his pack. He moved his leg and although he could still feel a sharp pain, it was a manageable pain that he could stand. He glanced down and found Katniss still watching him, nervously biting her lip. The fire that the Careers had built was slowly starting to die down, making the lighting fainter than before. It was perfect timing since it was still completely dark and would make it easier to get away. He quietly gathered his things.

He glanced by at the neighbouring trees. "Rue," he whispered. Rue's eyes instantly appeared through the branches, wide and alert all at once. Peeta pointed up at the nest and held up the knife he had and made a sawing motion. Rue nodded and disappeared. He could hear some rustling in a nearby tree. He waited a minute more, giving Rue more time to get away. He glanced down and found Katniss standing at the base of his tree, her own backpack strapped to her shoulders. Annoyance filled him. What was she doing? She needed to get out of there! He pointed to far off distance repeatedly, hoping that she would get the message. She shook her head and he could see in her eyes that she didn't want to leave him.

Peeta gave her a pointed look. _Please run,_ he mouthed. _You need to get out of here, Katniss! Run! Run!_

They stared at one another for a moment and he refused to break his gaze. Finally, Katniss gave a nod and began to quietly move away. The Careers never woke up as she silently slipped past them and then disappeared into the darkness of the woods. He slowly began climbing until he reached the limb that supported the nest and began to finish what he had started earlier. He gripped his knife and began sawing and the slight swinging motion of the tree jostled the tracker jackers awake. The low humming became a notch louder and the tracker jackers began buzzing. There was a stabbing pain in his knee and he instantly knew that one of the wasps had found him. He worked faster and shoved the end of the branch as hard as he could as the knife finally cut through the wood. The branch crashed down through the lower branches and smashed down onto the ground with a thud. The nest ruptured open into several pieces and immediately a furious swarm of tracker jackers took to the air.

He felt a sting on his cheek and then a third on his neck, their venom immediately making him woozy. He clung to the tree with one arm while he ripped the barbed stingers out of his flesh. It was lucky that only three of the wasps had identified him before the nest went down. The rest of the wasps had targeted the others on the ground.

Screams filled the air. The Careers had woken to a full-scale attack and a few of them had the sense to drop everything and bolt. He could hear cries of "To the lake! To the lake!" but not all of the Careers had escaped, however. He watched through his hazy vision as Glimmer and the girl from District Four became hysterical, shrieking and both trying to bat off the wasps. A wave of dizziness overcame him and Peeta clutched the tree tighter, not wanting to fall off the branch he was currently sitting on.

The nest was now nothing but an empty shell. The wasps had vanished in pursuit of the others and not wanting to risk them coming back, he quickly scampered down the tree and hit the ground and stumbled. The poison from the stingers made him wobbly and he could feel his knee swelling. He leaned against a tree, catching his breath, trying to regain his bearings and watching as Glimmer continued to flail around on the ground in front of him. He blinked, breathing through the pain and suddenly noticed the bow lying a few inches away from the now dying tribute.

His bow!

He took a few steps toward it but another wave of dizziness overcame him. He faltered once more and fell onto the grass. Pounding footsteps were heard and he suddenly realized that the remaining Careers were coming back. Coming back to kill him or to get their weapons. Or both.

"Peeta!"

Strong hands reached out and he felt himself being lifted.

It was Katniss. She hadn't run like he told her to. She had come back for him!

"Are you crazy? What are you still doing here?" She had an arm around his waist now. "We have to get out of here now! Can you get up?"

With effort, he pulled himself up. "My bow!" he choked, trying breathe through the pain he was now feeling in full force. He felt her leave his side and he forced his eyes open, watching as Katniss quickly made her way over to where Glimmer's still body was and grabbed the sheath of arrows from her and slung it over her shoulder. She then stooped to pick up his bow and then came back to where he was. He leaned on her and placed an arm around her shoulders as she placed an arm around his waist and helped him up. Slowly, they moved with Katniss half-dragging him as he leaned on her for support. He held tightly onto her as she tried to keep him from falling as he stumbled along beside her.

The world began to bend in alarming ways. The darkness of the night formed into shapeless shadows with scarred faces and arms reaching out to taunt him. A butterfly ballooned to the size of a house and then shattered into a million stars. Trees began to bleed blood and splashed over his boots. Ants began crawling out of his skin and climbing up his arms and neck and he could hear himself begin to gasp and panic welled within him.

"Peeta! Peeta, calm down! You're just hallucinating!"

Slowly, his vision began to dim and the last thing he saw was Katniss' worried expression looking down upon him as his world faded to black.

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**It's my birthday soon and you know what would make a great present? Reviews! So, please take the time to let me know what you all think! I would appreciate it forever! :)**

**Also, I wanted to get some opinions. I want to try writing more fanfics but currently have no ideas for a story. Anyone wanna suggest some? If an idea sparks, I want to try writing it! :)  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi all!  
**

**Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. Real life had taken over for awhile in the form of visiting family and friends so I didn't really have a lot of time to work on this chapter over the past week. But never fear, a new update is here! There's not a lot of action in this one, just a bit of plot development!  
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**As always, thank you to everyone who took the time to review the last chapter. Your words of encouragement is definitely inspiring and it's helping me to enjoy this writing process so much more! Thanks don't seem to be enough! :)  
**

**Fic Recommendation of the Week: If you haven't read it yet, check out Sparks Fly by salanderjade. It's such a delightful read! And make sure to leave a review for her :)  
**

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**Chapter Six: In Which Our Tributes Have a Conversation.  
**

_He drifted in and out of consciousness, unable to tell what reality was and what wasn't. All the things he dreaded the most, all the things he dreaded for others, manifested in such vivid details that he couldn't help but believe they were real. He was trapped in a world filled with darkness and no way out. Every which way he turned, ran, there was only darkness. He fell to his knees in despair. It was terrifying. _

_There were times when it was glaringly obvious that the world to which he had entered wasn't real… reliving the nightmares of times past when his father had died and his mother becoming catatonic. These onslaught of nightmares weren't reality. He had never witnessed his father's brutal death. These were moments of his past that he knew had already happened, that he had already been able to move on from. These were the moments that he realized he was lucid enough to know that the tracker jacker venom was still working its way through his body. The reality that he was still in The Hunger Games. _

_Then came the nightmares in which he witnessed Prim dying in all sorts of ways. Dying from starvation because he hadn't managed to find food, her cold body on the ground and her lips blue while he was beside her, begging her to wake up. There were times when he was watching Prim's death as she entered the Games, watching as Cato pierced his sword through her heart and laughing manically as he stood by and watched helplessly, screaming. Was this reality? It felt real. Too real. _

_And then came the singing. _

_These were Peeta's favorite moments in which he didn't care if his dark surroundings were his reality or not. Whether the singing was real or not. It came at different times, most often when he was living through his worst horrors. He couldn't make out the words, didn't know the song or the melody but when the singing started, he knew peace. He knew he was loved. He felt it, the wholeheartedness and warmth that flowed through the melody that calmed his soul. And most importantly, he felt safe. He didn't fear the darkness when he could hear the music. _

_If only the song could play forever. _

He blinked awake, his senses on high alert as he tried to figure out what was going on around him. He was on his back, the sight of the bright blue sky and vibrant green trees greeted him as he gazed upwards. There were sounds of crickets chirping nearby and rushing water in the far-off distance. He laid still, waiting for the next assault of nightmares to plague him, to pull him back into the darkness.

Minutes passed.

Eventually, Peeta accepted that the poison must have finally worked its way out of his system, leaving his body wracked and feeble. His throat was parched and he was lying on his back, wrapped in his sleeping bag. Piles of green leaves mixed with brown dead ones fell off of him and onto the ground as he slowly sat up and even stretching his limbs required an enormous effort since so many parts of his body hurt. He rubbed his eyes and was surprised when he pulled his hand back and found clumps of dried dirt on his hand. His rubbed his face and more dirt fell off. Confusion filled him. What was dirt doing on his face?

He looked around and found that he was completely alone.

He was currently in a shallow hole, partially hidden by logs and branches. His clothing was damp, probably from all his sweating while he lived out his nightmares. His backpack, along with his bow and arrows laid close to his side and slowly he reached into one of the pockets and pulled out his water bottle. He took slow, small sips from his bottle and desperately tried to figure out what had happened.

How long had he been out? It had been the middle of the night when he lost all reason, now it looked to be late afternoon, nearing evening. The stiffness in his joints suggested that more than a day had passed, possibly even two. He had no way of knowing which tributes had survived the tracker jacker attack. And where was Katniss? Where had she disappeared off to? Was she alright? He distinctly remembered her saving him right before he blacked out. Or had that been a hallucination from the tracker jackers?

A twig snapped.

In one motion, Peeta grabbed his bow and one of the arrows to his shoulder, ignoring the dull ache on the back of his neck as he pulled the string backwards. A minute passed and no one appeared but still, he didn't relax his posture. His blue eyes surveyed the scene around him carefully and when he spotted the tip of a child's boot just peeking out from behind the trunk of a tree, his shoulders relaxed and he grinned. She was definitely sneaky, he had to give her that.

"Rue?" He called out.

For a moment, there was no response. Then slowly, one of Rue's eyes edged around the trunk. She stared at him and Peeta could see that the little girl was wary of trusting him. He was glad to see that Rue was being cautious.

Footsteps could be heard coming from his left at a brisk pace, leaves crunching beneath their shoes. Katniss suddenly appeared, looking completely disgruntled as she carried a small pouch in her hands. As soon as she saw him however, the disgruntled look disappeared and a wide smile replaced it. Her eyes lit up and she rushed forward, kneeling beside him, the pouch in her hands forgotten. "Peeta!" she cried happily as she reached forward and hugged him. The gesture caught him off guard. Despite feeling slightly awkward, he hugged her back, glad to see that she was alright. She pulled back and blew a strand of hair out of her face. "I'm so glad to see you're awake! Are you okay? How are you feeling? Are you hungry?" she fired off the questions all at once.

He blinked and ran a hand through his hair. "Well," he winced, feeling the pain on his cheek. It didn't hurt as much as before, but the ache was still there. "I've been better. The stings from the tracker jackers still hurt and I guess I am pretty hungry." Suddenly, he noticed the rumbling in his stomach.

If possible, her smile became wider. This was something Katniss could help fix. "Oh, I know what we can do about the stings! Rue?" She called out as she looked around. "Where are you Rue?"

Slowly, Rue's head peeked out from around the tree trunk once more.

"What are you doing hiding behind there, silly?" The brunette grinned at the little girl. "It's okay, you can come out! I know he looks scary since he always has that scowl on his face, but Peeta won't hurt you."

He frowned. "I do not always have a scowl on my face."

Katniss gave him an amused glance. "There's one on your face right now."

He stared at her for a minute before realizing that Katniss was biting her lip to keep from laughing. This brought a smile to his face and it was another minute before he began chuckling. "You're something else, Everdeen," he told her.

More twigs snapped and Rue approached them slowly, her eyes watching him warily but she seemed to relax the moment she reached Katniss' side. "Did you find more of those leaves?" Katniss asked her. Rue nodded and reached into her pocket and pulled them out. She silently handed them to Katniss. The brunette gave her a smile and then turned to Peeta. "This is going to be kind of gross," she told him. She plopped a leaf into her mouth and began chewing. After a minute, she pulled the gloppy wad from her mouth and placed it on his cheek. It _was_ gross, but he couldn't afford to be picky.

The relief was almost instant, as if the leaf was actually leaching the pain right out of the sting. He sighed contentedly as he maneuvered out of his sleeping bag. "Oh, that feels nice."

Katniss grinned and began chewing on another leaf. "Rue said it was a good thing you had the sense to pull the stingers out or you'd be a lot worse." She placed another gloppy wad on his neck. "We've been doing this every few hours for the past two days," she checked his knee before placing another leaf on it. "The swelling has definitely gone down, which is good."

He gave a start. "I've been out for two days?"

Katniss nodded. "The tracker jackers got the Careers pretty good as well. Rue and I have been spying on them, they've got a base camp by the lake. They made it back before they collapsed from the stingers. I think they had it worse than you did."

"How much did I miss?" he asked. "Whose left?"

He sat by and listened as Katniss recounted the events that had happened while he had been out. Glimmer and Nerissa, the girl tribute from district four, hadn't survived the attack and their canons had fired shortly after he and Katniss had fled into the woods. Even though the Careers had been otherwise distracted, Katniss had managed to drag them on for another six miles after he had passed out from the pain, only stopping when she felt comfortable that they had put enough distance between them and the Careers. With him out of commission, she wasn't taking any chances on running into the fierce tributes from the upper districts. From that point though, she had been at a loss of what to do as to where to find a safe hiding place for them.

Her first thought had been to climb a tree but had quickly nixed that idea when it dawned on her that she couldn't get him up into the tree in the first place. And with him thrashing around from his nightmares, it probably wasn't a good idea anyway since he probably would've fallen off a branch. And so, she had leaned him against the trunk of a tree and sat with him while she figured out what to do. She stayed up all night, keeping an eye on him, doing her best to take care of him as he fought through his hallucinations.

It was near dawn when she happened to look up and spotted Rue sitting in a nearby tree, watching them. At first, Katniss hadn't been sure of what to do or what to say, but when she saw Rue eying her hungrily as she ate a sandwich that she had managed to steal from the Careers right before the tracker jacker attack, she knew she couldn't just let the little girl starve. She gave Rue half her sandwich, and thus, an alliance had formed. With Rue's help, they had managed to find the safe hiding spot that they were currently in now. Katniss had disguised him, covering him with dirt, in case any other tribute had passed by during the times she went to go look for food while Rue kept watch.

"And I'm so glad Rue was here," Katniss told him as she handed him a wet cloth to wipe off the dirt on his face. The fabric looked to be a torn-up shirt. "I was panicking because your hallucinations seemed so terrible. I tried rubbing that medicine that Haymitch sent you onto your wounds but it did nothing! I had no idea what to do until Rue said she had something that would help. The minute we put the leaves on your stings, you stopped thrashing around as much."

Peeta turned to the little girl that sat next to Katniss. Rue eyed him apprehensively but seemed to relax a little more when he smiled warmly at her. "Thanks for helping me Rue."

"You're welcome," Rue gave him a shy smile and he felt a pang in his heart. The look that the District Eleven tribute was giving him completely reminded him of Prim.

Suddenly, the growling from his stomach rang loudly causing his female companions to look over at him with amused glances. Peeta blushed. Rue gave a tiny giggle.

Katniss grinned at him. "I guess after two days of eating nothing, you'd have to be starving." She reached for her backpack and pulled out a couple of plastic containers. "This is the last of the food that I managed to steal from the Careers. We might as well eat all of it today, otherwise it'll spoil. Rue picked a bunch of berries yesterday so we still have some of that to eat." She held up the pouch that she had been carrying earlier. "And I managed to catch some fish! Took me about three hours. Fishing is extremely difficult, I almost fell into the river!"

He couldn't help but grin at the pouting look on Katniss' face. It was hard to imagine the baker's daughter standing at the edge of the river, fishing for her food but if the last few days were anything to go by, Katniss was definitely tougher than she seemed. He knew she had no experience with living in the woods but she hadn't let that stop her. With a start, he realized that even though they both came from different worlds – him from the Seam and her from Town – Katniss was a survivor. Most merchant girls put in her current position would've floundered by now. But not Katniss, she endured.

There was just something about her that he admired, he couldn't put his finger on it just yet.

Katniss had caught about half a dozen fish and combined with the food she had swiped from the Careers, it was one of the more filling meals he'd had since the Games had begun. They had built a small fire, cooked the fish quickly and stamped out the remaining flames before any heavy smoke could fill the air. It wouldn't do to give away their location to any of the remaining tributes.

"I went to the Careers' base camp right before I came back here," Katniss told them as she munched on her fish. "Clove and Marvel got stung a lot more than you did Peeta, so they're still having their own hallucinations but they've got a lot of sponsors. And I don't think Cato got stung as much as the others, he ran off pretty fast. He was slowly moving around when I went to go spy on them, so he's definitely recovered a lot faster. They're no telling when the rest of them will be lucid again – I'm guessing it'll be soon though."

After a few more minutes of discussion, it was decided that they would begin moving first thing in the morning. It was near dark now, the sun had long since set. Katniss yawned and in the dim lighting, he could suddenly how tired she looked. "You haven't gotten much sleep in the past few days, have you?"

Katniss shook her head. "It's hard to sleep when you're stuck with the Careers. I was taking naps here and there, but I was too afraid to really sleep. What if they killed me? It was really stressful."

"How did you end up with them, Katniss?"

A dark look crossed her face and she bit her lip before shaking her head once more. "Is it okay if we don't talk about that?"

Concerned filled Peeta as his gaze slowly ran over his fellow tribute. The brunette still had bruises on her cheek and he could see the exhaustion in her expression. He nodded. "Alright. Why don't you get some sleep now? I'll keep watch."

"You don't need to tell me twice," Katniss gave him a soft smile, relieved that he had dropped the subject of the Careers for now. She crawled over to where the sleeping bag was and climbed in. "Wake me when it's my turn to keep watch, okay?" She closed her eyes and within minutes, she was asleep.

Peeta turned to Rue. "Why don't you get some sleep too?"

The little girl shook her head. "I'm not that tired yet. I'll keep you company for a little while."

They sat in silence as the night time fully descended on them and the crickets began chirping. He leaned against a log and silently observed Rue as the little girl sat by staring at the sky. It was strange, he thought, to find himself with this sort of an alliance. When the Games had started, forming an alliance hadn't even crossed his mind. Considering there would only be one winner, what was the point? Still, he couldn't deny that Katniss and even Rue, had saved his life. Rue had pointed out the nest up in the tree to him even though she didn't have too. If she hadn't brought it to his attention, he wouldn't have known to cut it down. Rue was smart, she had to have been if she had survived this long.

He allowed his gaze to drift over to Katniss' sleeping form. She had saved him yet again. She was always saving him. His debt to her was getting longer and longer every day. He had no idea what he had ever done to deserve someone like her in his life. There were just no words to explain the feelings he had towards the baker's daughter.

"She didn't sleep at all while she was taking care of you, you know."

He looked over at Rue, who was watching him with an earnest expression. His heart began beating just a tiny bit faster and that foreign-yet-familiar feeling filled him again. "Really?"

Rue nodded and leaned forward a bit. Clearly, Rue trusted Katniss wholeheartedly and talking about his fellow tribute made Rue a lot more comfortable around him. "When your hallucinations got really bad, she would sing to you and it calmed you down a lot."

He frowned, distinctly remembering the melody from his nightmares. "She did?" He had no idea that Katniss sang at all. He looked at her sleeping figure once more.

"She was really worried. All she wanted was to keep you safe and help you get better."

"She's something special, Rue." Affection filled him and involuntary smile came over his face as he watched the brunette sleep. He never took his eyes off her as a sudden realization came to him. "She's probably the most amazing person I know."

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**Fun Fact: According to several sources on Google, it takes about two hours to walk six miles. Yikes! That's a lot of walking. **

**Also, I have a question for all of you. I was thinking of including an interlude chapter from Haymitch's point of view of the games somewhere down the line for this fic. Would that be something you all would be interested in reading? Let me know in the review! Thanks! Until next time :)  
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